I so wanted to be a detective when I was a kid — but beyond putting “clues” into my black notebook (which I’d covered with sparkly purple nailpolish) and following my older cousin around to see if she’d smoked a cigarette (gasp), I never made it in the business. But 10-year-old Hilde Lysiak is the real deal. A journalist who broke news about a violent murder will now be the star of a series of books about her real-life newshound life. Amazing.
Ooh, this is a thing? Fantastic! Happy Book Lovers Day, world! One way to celebrate — other than reading, obviously — is to check out the work over at Ideal Bookshelf. Jane Mount is an incredible artist and she honors the books that shape us with her amazing illustrations. Coolest of all, she can do a custom design of the books that mean the most to you, too. Check out all the cool stuff on their site.
An example of the amazing work from Ideal Bookshelf
Interesting news via The New York Times and the rate of people who develop food allergies after the age of 18. I know here we focus on childhood food allergies — but it turns out it is quite common to grow into an allergy, too, not just grow out. Bummer.
Cool list from PW about the most anticipated #kidlit coming out soon, but CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT HOW IT’S STILL JULY AND WE’VE BEGUN TALKING ABOUT FALL? Sob.
E. L. Konigsburg wrote From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler fifty years ago, and to celebrate, The Met offered special Mixed-Up tours for fans of the classic middle grade novel. So wish I could have gone, like writer Jia Tolentino of the New Yorker did this past weekend. So jealous! 
From EW.com: Harry Potter reader goes viral for mistaking fan fiction for Order of the Phoenix
Love this, all of it.
I’m a sucker for a list. Romance isn’t a genre I’m too familiar with, but certainly I’ve read romance over the years. If you’re interested, there look like there are some great picks on this (2015) article on NPR.
My latest for RetailMeNot, a roundup of what’s hot and new in the nation’s biggest theme parks. (Note: I’ll be hitting Orlando this fall with my kids. Really looking forward to it!)
I got to review The Amsterdam, Rhinebeck’s newest restaurant, for Rural Intelligence. I wasn’t going to even try it out but couldn’t resist a request from my delightful editor. So glad I got to eat there, the food and service were great.
This is good news! The number of Americans with food allergies is lower than previous estimates. Next up, seeing if OIT can be the cure we’re all waiting for.