

Living on a farm comes with lots of hard work, but that means there are plenty of opportunities for Esther to show her mother how helpful she can be. When Pa loses his job, Esther’s family leaves their comfy Chicago life behind for a farm in Wisconsin. But even luck can’t keep her family safe from the Great Depression. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and of all my favorite books in the world, my very most favorite is the Book of Mormon.Thanks to her superstitious mother, Esther knows some tricks for avoiding bad luck: toss salt over your left shoulder, never button your shirt crooked, and avoid black cats. I have over 2,000 books in my home library-and I have read most of them more than once! I was a member of the OneFourKidLit debut author group together with some super-awesome authors like Julie Murphy (DUMPLIN'), I was too shy to speak up and say I didn't know how to do it, so I had to learn fast! Thank goodness for how-to books, online classes, YouTube tutorials, and good ol' trial-and-error!

I've learned a lot of things (jewelry-making, basic woodworking, graphic design, and website-building, for starters) because someone assumed I already knew how and asked me to teach a class about it. I am the second of eight children, mother of four, and grandmother of two. But I wasn't diagnosed until I was 45 years old, so I spent most of my life feeling like I just wasn't trying hard enough to do things "right." Now, I am having fun discovering lots of ways that my brain simply works differently than the brains of my neurotypical friends and family. Veronica is the Assistant Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), MD/DE/WV region, and the director of the MD/DE/VA/DC Read Local Challenge, since it's inception in 2015. She’s an incurable optimist who loves gray, drizzly days because that’s when rainbows come out to play. Veronica Bartles, author of TWELVE STEPS (Young Adult contemporary novel), and THE PRINCESS AND THE FROGS (Picture Book fairy tale retelling), loves to ask “What If?” She believes there are many sides to every story, and she’s determined to discover every single one! When not writing or reading, she likes to invent new cookie recipes and knit things from recycled plastic bags.
