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Hello, my friends!

I’m over the moon to announce that The Alchemy of Flowers, my debut novel for adults, is coming with Harper Muse in summer 2025! The story is women’s fiction meets magical realism� here’s a bit about the book:

After years of infertility and heartbreak, Eloise Bourne finds a mysterious job in locked castle gardens in the south of France. She hopes to escape reminders of children but soon discovers an enigmatic little girl—who may or may not be human—who needs her help.

The most common question I’ve been getting is why I decided to venture into adult territory! Here are my thoughts on that:

Tina Wood Photography

I’ve written a dozen books for older children and teens, most of which have gorgeous global settings, magical realism, undercurrents of love and transformation, themes of deep connections among humans and nature, and themes of overcoming trauma to find joy. A few years ago, I felt drawn to explore more adult issues in my novels—in the case of this first book, healing after infertility and miscarriage. But I didn’t want it to be depressing! I wanted to explore how to heal within a lush, magic-laced realm that readers wanted to immerse themselves in.

I wanted my book to have a mystical, transporting, wish-fulfillment vibe� while also addressing some raw emotional topics. In my own journey from infertility to adopting my son, there were so many meaningful and mythical moments along the way, including healing rituals and divinations. I wanted a way to channel the beauty and wisdom I gleaned from my own experiences into a fictional story with mythological framing. That is what has felt true to me on the deepest level.

Thanks for your enthusiasm about this book� I hope you love it! Stay tuned for more details about the story, the cover (still in process!), preorder info, book club resources, events, and more! You can join The Garden for updates and giveaways . You can also see page of my website, which has links to interviews and fun extras.

xo,

Laura

Interview with Laura About Virch

Available for pre-order (June 4, 2024 release)!

You’ve written ten books so far, and none of them have been in the sci-fi genre. What inspired you to write your first sci-fi book?

Sci-fi and speculative fiction are my first loves, as far as genre. Books like A Wrinkle in Time sparked my dream to become a writer from the time I was a kid. This might be surprising to readers of the books I’ve written so far, which mostly fall into the category of “contemporary� and “realistic� with touches of magic. My dad’s a scientist, so science has always been fundamental to my perspective on the world. I’ve always loved it when scientific discoveries and mysteries and theories spark my imagination.

Many years ago, I read a philosophy article by Nick Bostrom called “Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?� It blew my mind—I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I started jotting down story ideas in my notebooks, made a file folder for the potential novel, and touched base with it every now and then to keep fleshing out ideas. About a decade ago, I committed to actually writing and finishing it, then revising it with my writing group, family, friends, agent, and editors. Since I was juggling other projects, it was a long road, but I enjoyed the ride and I’m thrilled with how the book manifested.

What was most rewarding and most challenging about writing your first sci-fi novel?

I loved writing a book that asks the huge, timeless, existential questions about reality that philosophers have been examining for millennia. These are the kinds of questions that have fascinated me since I was a child. It felt exciting to use a framework of ancient wisdom for a futuristic sci-fi story that lets the characters explore these timeless themes. It was also fun to write a book that mostly takes place in just a few days, allowing a really breakneck pace. This story has a big twist in it that completely thrills me, and I love seeing readers� reactions to the revelation—it bends their minds and makes them see existence in a whole new way.

As far as challenges, in early drafts, I wasn’t sure how much time and space to devote to world-building. For example, I was uncertain about how much detail I should go into with new technology or how much futuristic slang to include. Some of my sci-fi expert friends like Todd Mitchell and Parker Peevyhouse gave me great advice on how to navigate these issues.

I also had trouble keeping the length down. In earlier drafts, I lingered in scenes to develop character, setting, and themes, but the pace suffered. I realized that to pull off the thriller elements, I really needed to keep things moving along swiftly and let the plot take the lead. There are still meaningful character transformations, relationships, themes, and settings, but there’s a strong momentum now, and it’s much more of a page-turner.

What are some of your favorite sci-fi books?

As far as books for kids and teens, as I mentioned, A Wrinkle in Time was a favorite of mine (and of many kids/YA authors of my generation!) It really expanded my concept of existence and time and space and possibility, which is what I hope Virch will do with readers.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes was another novel that I read over and over as a kid. It’s about a girl who has mental telepathy (with a scientific explanation). For me, as a scientist’s daughter, this meeting of science and special powers made a big impression. William Sleator’s House of Stairs was another novel that affected me in an existential way. It’s a thought-provoking story about a group of teens who find themselves in a structure of endless stairs that they’re trying to escape. I also enjoy exciting, futuristic sci-fi books by contemporary YA authors like Veronica Rossi and Amy Kathleen Ryan. Parker Peevyhouse is fantastic at writing mind-bendy books that really make you think. M.T. Anderson’s classic, Feed, makes you ask ethical and social questions about where our technology is leading us.

As far as books for adult readers, I’m a big fan of Blake Crouch’s mind-trippy Dark Matter and Recursion. I love sci-fi novels inspired by phenomena in physics, neuroscience, computer science, and the like—while still having well-developed characters and relationships. And I’ve always gravitated toward non-fiction about theoretical physics, from classics by Steven Hawking to more accessible, contemporary books by Michio Kaku. I stumbled across The Simulation Hypothesis by Rizwan Virk after I’d finished my manuscript� it’s a great non-fiction read for anyone who wants to further explore these mind-bending possibilities.

Can you tell us more about Virch?

My aim was to offer mind-bending, fast-paced YA sci-fi with heart. Here’s a short summary:

In the year 2154, virtual reality is an enticing escape� but just for the privileged. For others, like sixteen-year-old Liv, reality means living by a contaminated bay that’s sickened her little sister to the brink of death.

Liv is determined to find a cure. She ventures to a mysterious tropical island to infiltrate a tech empire owned by the world’s most powerful man. When she encounters his son, Wolf, she’s shocked. He isn’t the shallow celebrity portrayed in the virtual world—he’s an idealist with heart, committed to righting his father’s wrongs. And when Wolf promises to help save her sister, he might just capture Liv’s heart, too.

But as Liv and Wolf confront a danger beyond anything they could have imagined, they must unravel the deadly scheme at the core of the tech empire. And their world starts to crumble . . . just as they’re falling in love.

Rooted in futuristic science and ancient wisdom, Virch explores truth and illusion, human and environmental rights, and the forces of love behind it all.

Virch will be released on June 4, 2024, with Owl Hollow Press, and available through your favorite bookseller. I hope you love it!

xo,

Laura

Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa Leader in the Amazon. Photo credit: , artist and activist.

[Hay una version en español en el fondo de esta pagina!]

I’m over the moon to finally announce this new book deal that’s been in the works this past year! The picture book is entitled Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest. It will be published in Summer 2022 with Charlesbridge Publishing�. an English version and a Spanish one! It’s co-written with the inspiring Indigenous rights leader, Patricia Gualinga, of the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It will be illustrated by the fabulous Ecuadorian artist, Vanessa Jaramillo. We’re thrilled to be working with brilliant editor, Karen Boss and the entire Charlesbridge team.

Here’s some background on how this came to be! When I was researching my novel Tree of Dreams (Scholastic), I spent time in the Ecuadorian Amazon with an Indigenous Huaorani (Waorani) community. I had fascinating conversations with several people there about book projects they were interested in doing. We agreed that I’d come back to their community in a year or two, prepared to help them bring their creative ideas to fruition.

Sadly, about a year after I left, an oil company started doing seismic oil exploration on their land� this involves planting dynamite around their forest home. Their land became a danger zone, and they had to shut down their ecolodge. Since they’re off-grid, I haven’t been able to communicate with them directly. I felt heart-broken and upset and worried about them. I followed the Huaoranis� struggle to defend their land from oil companies, and learned about other Amazonian indigenous groups facing these issues. I kept my eyes open for opportunities to support and collaborate, to help get the message out.

With my guide, Pegonka, in his Huaorani community in the Ecuadorian Amazon

During that time, I kept seeing articles about Patricia Gualinga, an indigenous leader from the Amazon, who was facing death threats and attacks for her work. Her Kichwa community of Sarayaku successfully defended their sacred rain forest from an oil company that invaded their land with no prior consultation. Their case became famous, and led the way for Paty and her family and neighbors to broaden and strengthen Indigenous movements to protect land and culture in the Amazon. Paty has since traveled all over the world, connecting with other Indigenous leaders and joining forces to promote ancestral land rights.

As I read about her, I was particularly fascinated by how she combines spirituality with science in her conservation and human rights work. I took a leap and reached out to see if Paty was interested in collaborating with me to tell the story of her community’s victory. I felt deeply grateful and completely elated when she said yes! It’s been a huge honor to work with Paty on this project.

Image from Amazon Watch, a non-profit organization that supports indigenous people in defending their land and culture

When we spoke via Skype, Paty told me about her childhood growing up in the rain forest. She talked about the plants, animals, and mystical beings within the forest� and how her experiences as a young person informed her future activist work. Even in that first conversation, her story came alive, and I could vividly imagine what a gorgeous and powerful illustrated book it would make.

I think it will fill a big gap in children’s literature. As far as I know, it will be the first picture book about environmental activism in the Amazon� and the first memoir picture book by an Indigenous Amazonian leader. It’s so important to bring these issues into kids� consciousnesses at a young age. This issue of standing up to destructive practices in the Amazon has an effect not only on the rain forest and the cultures within it, but the entire world. The Amazon is the lungs of the earth� when the rain forest is healthy and thriving, it protects us all from climate change.

Vanessa Jaramillo’s beautiful notebooks from her and her husband’s company Honrarte. This gives you a sense of her gorgeous style of art.

Paty suggested her illustrator friend, Vanessa Jaramillo, to do the art. We all fell in love with her gorgeous illustrations that show cultural sensitivity and authenticity. Vanessa’s husband, Santiago Utitiaj, is from Shuar Indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and they are both active in educational, environmental, and artistic endeavors there. (Together, they own an company called , which makes beautifully designed notebooks� you can see more of her artwork there). Paty and the Charlesbridge team and I are thrilled with Vanessa’s artwork, and love how she’s bringing the story to life!

Vanessa Jaramillo, la ilustradora del libro

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and share in our excitement! Paty and I can’t wait for you to read this book with the kids in your life!

If you’d like to read more about Paty’s work:

on death threats Paty faced

If you’d like to connect with Paty:

xo,

Laura (Spanish version below! Version en español abajo!)

¡Estoy muy feliz para anunciar este nuevo contrato de libro que ha estado en proceso por este año pasado!

El libro ilustrado se titula tentativamente CON LA CABEZA EN ALTO: cómo una comunidad amazónica protegió la selva. Será publicado en el verano del 2021 con Charlesbridge Publishing ... ¡Una versión en inglés y una en español! Está coescrito con la inspiradora líder de derechos indígenas, Patricia Gualinga, de la comunidad Kichwa de Sarayaku en la Amazonía ecuatoriana. Sera ilustrado por la maravillosa Vanessa Jaramillo, una artista ecuatoriana. Estamos encantadas de trabajar con la brillante editora, Karen Boss y todo el equipo de Charlesbridge.

¡Aquí hay algunos antecedentes sobre cómo surgió esto! Cuando yo estaba investigando mi novela TREE OF DREAMS (Scholastic), pasé un tiempo en la Amazonía ecuatoriana con una comunidad indígena Huaorani (Waorani). Tuve conversaciones fascinantes con varias personas sobre proyectos de libros que les interesaba hacer. Acordamos que yo regresaría a su comunidad en un año o dos, preparada para ayudarlos a realizar sus ideas creativas.

Tristamente, más o menos un año después de que me fui, una compañía petrolera empezó a hacer una exploración sísmica de petróleo en sus tierras ... esto implica plantar dinamita alrededor de su hogar forestal. Su tierra se convirtió en una zona peligrosa, y tuvieron que cerrar su ecolodge. Como están fuera de la red, no he podido comunicarme con ellos directamente. Me sentía muy triste y preocupada por ellos. Seguí la lucha de los Huaoranis para defender su tierra de las compañías petroleras, y aprendí más de los otros grupos indígenas amazónicos que enfrentan estos problemas. Mantuve mis ojos abiertos para oportunidades de apoyo y colaboración, para ayudar a difundir el mensaje.

Durante ese tiempo, empezé a ver artículos sobre Patricia Gualinga, una líder indígena de la Amazonía, que enfrentaba amenazas de muerte y ataques por su trabajo. Su pueblo Kichwa de Sarayaku defendió con éxito su selva sagrada de una compañía petrolera que invadió sus tierras sin consulta previa. Su caso se hizo famoso y abrió el camino para que Paty y su familia y vecinos ampliaran y fortalecieran los movimientos indígenas para proteger la tierra y la cultura en la Amazonía. Desde entonces, Paty ha viajado por todo el mundo, conectándose con otros líderes indígenas y uniendo fuerzas para promover los derechos ancestrales de la tierra.

Mientras leía sobre ella, me fascinó cómo ella combina la espiritualidad con la ciencia en su trabajo de conservación y derechos humanos. Di un salto y extendí la mano para ver si Paty estaba interesada en colaborar conmigo para contar su historia de la victoria de su comunidad. ¡Me sentí profundamente agradecida y completamente eufórica cuando dijo que sí! Para mi, ha sido un gran honor de trabajar con Paty en este proyecto.

Cuando hablamos por Skype, Paty me contó sobre su infancia en la selva tropical. Ella habló sobre las plantas, los animales y los seres místicos dentro del bosque ... y cómo sus experiencias como joven informaron su futuro trabajo activista. En esa primera conversación, su historia me pareció muy vivida y viva, y pude imaginar qué hermoso y poderoso libro ilustrado sería.

Paty sugirió su amiga ilustradora, Vanessa Jaramillo, para hacer el arte. Todos nosotros, nos enamoramos de sus hermosas ilustraciones que muestran autenticidad cultural y sensibilidad. El esposo de Vanessa, Santiago Utitiaj, es de la comunidad indígena Shuar en la Amazonía ecuatoriana, y ambos participan activamente en actividades educativas, ambientales y artísticas alla. (Juntos, son dueños de una empresa llamada , que fabrica cuadernos de hermoso diseño; puedes ver más de sus obras de arte allí). Paty, el equipo de Charlesbridge y yo estamos encantados con la obra de arte de Vanessa y nos encantamos como ella esta dando vida a la historia.

Creo que el libro llenará un gran vacío en la literatura infantil. Hasta donde sé, será el primer libro ilustrado sobre activismo en la Amazonía ... y el primer libro ilustrado de un líder indígena amazónica. Es muy importante llevar estos problemas a la conciencia de los niños a una edad temprana ... este problema de las prácticas destructivas en el Amazonas tiene un efecto no solo en la selva tropical y las culturas dentro de ella, sino en todo el mundo. La Amazonía es los pulmones de la Tierra ... cuando la selva tropical es saludable y próspera, protege contra el cambio climático.

¡Gracias por tomarte el tiempo de leer esta noticia y compartir nuestra emoción! ¡Paty y yo tenemos muchas ganas que leas este libro con los niños de tu vida!

Si deseas leer más sobre el trabajo de Paty:

Ìý

on death threats Paty faced

Si quieres conectarte con ella:

Abrazos!

Laura

Hello, dear readers!

A thousand thanks to everyone who came to my book launch party for Tree of Dreams! I had loads of fun, and I hope you did, too!

I’m grateful to Everyday Joe’s Coffee House in Old Town, Fort Collins, for hosting� their space is GORGEOUS and the staff is super-friendly and helpful!

My talented friends Gloria Garcia Diaz and Mary Dean sang my favorite song, Gracias a la Vida� it made my heart soar!

There was chocolate galore� and I was so proud of our guests who ate almost ALL the chocolate� you are kindred souls, my friends!

There was an all-ages self-directed chocolate-tasting station� I absolutely love orchestrating these chocolate-tastings� and I’ll be doing this at many of my in Colorado, Maryland, and California, too!

I had fun chatting with friends� new and old� and signing books (thanks, Old Firehouse Books for selling books there!)

I had slides of my Amazon rainforest research playing on a loop throughout the party, along with a rainforest soundtrack of birds and insects and raindrops� I also did a short presentation about my research in the Ecuadorian rain forest and chocolate farms, factories, and shops.

And of course, no book launch would be complete without some live heavy metal music� courtesy of my 12-year-old rock star son, Bran! ;-)

His dear librarian from Harris Bilingual Elementary School, Martha, started a mosh pit and I joined her in the head-banging�

I did giveaways in Spanish and English for my other books�. to enter, you had to write your name and favorite rain forest animal or plant� sloths are definitely getting popular these days! And there’s a bit about sloths in my book�. :-)

Thanks so much for swinging by! If you didn’t make it to the book party in Fort Collins, I hope to see you at one of my other this spring! And I hope you love Tree of Dreams! Don’t forget to check out the chocolatey es I’ve created for you!

xo,

Laura

Poster available for download! See link below.

Hello, dear readers!

I’m so excited to share my new novel, Tree of Dreams, with you! I’ve been busy preparing some fun resources for book clubs, teachers, and librarians. In designing these materials, I drew on my background in teaching ESL, as well as the many writing workshops I do with students of all ages.

Kids and teens in deep contemplation, observing chocolate with all their senses, during the chocolate-tasting I led at the Colorado Book and Arts Festival.

I had a blast creating these guides and I hope you have a blast using them! Just click on the links in blue to get to a downloadable pdf file for the guides and jpg for the poster.

� (see image above). Perfect for your classroom or library, this is a colorful poster encouraging reading, empathy, and connection. Easily downloadable, high-resolution, for up to an 18� by 24� poster.

I just took these pics of the guides on my computer screen to give you a sense of what they’re all about! They’re each several pages long, so be sure to follow the links for the full documents you can download. :-)

� Ideas on what to serve, how to decorate, what to wear, what to listen to, what to discuss, what to do for fun, and how to get free, signed bookmarks!

� Instructions for delicious, fun, literacy-focused activities you can do while eating chocolate!

� A printable place mat for chocolate samples, with a chart to record observations about the chocolate, as well as descriptive words to spark ideas.

� Common Core and STEM connections. Includes book summary, instructions on creating a Grow Your Heart community, pre-reading, discussion, writing, extension activities, and author bio.

� This is a guide with ways to take action to protect our environment and help indigenous people in the Amazon rain forest defend their lands. Includes a meaningful writing activity for kids and teens.

If you do end up using any of these guides, please let me know how it went! I’d love to hear your feedback!

A STARRED review from Kirkus! This was the first review that came in, and I was over the moon!

Another lovely review! This one is from School Library Journal!

Thanks for swinging by! You can find more resources, including links to video clips, on the of my website.

xo,

Laura

Hello! I had the joy of touring the gorgeous Cacao Prieto bean-to-bar factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn a few weeks ago, and I’m so excited to share it with you. The founder, Dan Preston, has Dominican ancestry, and Prieto is his family name... which is how he came up with the business’s name. (It was anglicized to Preston when his ancestors immigrated). He’s actually an aerospace engineer who used to live in an apartment over what was formerly the bar next door. He was interested in the abandoned lot, and decided to build a parachute factory there using beautiful, reclaimed materials. After several successful years making sky-diving equipment, he decided to turn the building into a chocolate factory� because why not? The only thing cooler than a parachute factory is a chocolate factory, right?

He felt inspired to embark on this passion project after visiting his family’s cacao farm in the Dominican Republic� and that’s where Cacao Prieto now sources their beans. He began to acquire vintage chocolate-making equipment and used his engineering skills to modernize these old machines.

Vintage German melangeur (grinds the chocolate to a smooth consistency between granite disks)

Once he got the factory up and running nine years ago, he eventually stepped away to focus on other projects, and the factory is now largely employee-owned. Roger Rodriguez is now the head chocolate-maker.

Okay, so here’s a glimpse into the fascinating process of making chocolate! When the bags of criollo cacao arrive from the Dominican Republic, they’ve already been fermented and dried in the sun. They have a vinegary, sour smell. The next step is to roast them, which is done in this enormous, vintage roaster, built in 1905, and modernized in recent years. (Originally, it was steam-powered, and now it’s electric.) My awesome guide, Adam Russell, is in the photo for scale!

The cacao beans are roasted, typically for more-or-less 30 minutes at about 300 degrees.

Next they are cracked, which loosens the husks/shells and creates smaller pieces of cacao, called nibs. This beautiful sifter helps separate the husks and sort the nibs according to size.

This nifty vacuum vortex winnower separates the nibs and husks using spiraling wind action, with special settings for small, medium, and large nib sizes. These special features set this winnower apart from others in the chocolate industry� it’s an invention of Cacao Prieto, and has a patent pending. As I’ve researched different bean-to-bar factories, I’ve been impressed at the innovative ways chocolate makers adapt and improve on older versions of equipment. I hadn’t realized how important engineering skills were in the craft chocolate industry!

Here are nibs in a bucket!

The husks are discarded and used as compost material. The nibs are then ground between granite disks in a melangeur (aka melanger). This word comes from the French word “to blend or mix�. When they first started the company, Cacao Prieto used the vintage German melangeur to grind the nibs.

Vintage German melangeur

Now Cacao Prieto uses more modern melangeurs and conchers to grind the nibs smooth. At this stage, Dominican sugar and vanilla beans are added, along with extra cacao butter to make the mixture exquisitely creamy (without dairy). For many hours (usually a total of about thirteen), the mixture is ground and conched.

Next, the smoothed chocolate is brought downstairs, where it is tempered. This involves controlled warming and cooling while mixing, in order to evenly integrate the crystalline structure of the cacao butter. This ensures the final chocolate has a nice snap without white streaks or a dusty texture.

The basic ingredients of Cacao Prieto chocolate.

Next the chocolate is poured into a molding machine with controlled cooling. At this stage, they might add extra ingredients, depending on the kind of bar� like sea salt, ground coffee, or spices. Then the bar is packaged in gorgeous letter-pressed wrappers designed by the vice president, Michelle Clark. Cacao Prieto actually prints these with their own letterpress!

Here are the bars I tasted on the tour!

After the chocolate portion of our tour, Adam brought me into this sweet courtyard with a beautiful tree and a chicken coop (with cozy-warm chickens inside!) When the founder added on to the former bar (now cafe) that dated back to the 19th century, he didn’t want to kill the tree� so he made a courtyard for it! (As you know if you’re familiar with my book Tree of Dreams, I have the same attitude toward trees, and I’m deeply grateful he honored this one.)

The second part of the tour focused on the distillery part of the business, called Widow Jane. I won’t go into that here, but it was fascinating, too. Afterward, I stocked up on holiday gifts for friends�

I wished I’d had time to spend time in the lovely cafe next door, but alas, I had a plane to catch! (And barely made it in time!)

If you’re in Brooklyn, I definitely recommend you do the tour of and taste their divine chocolate.

You can read recaps of my other bean-to-bar chocolate tours of factories, farms, and shops . My chocolate adventures are research and resources for my novel, Tree of Dreams (ages 8 to 108, Scholastic Press, March 2019). Read more about the book and order a copy !

Thanks for swinging by!

xo,

Laura

Hello, dear readers!

Gloria and I have been sitting on this news since January, crossing our fingers and hoping that the contract negotiations would go smoothly and swiftly... and YES! Now we can officially announce that...

STAR IN THE FOREST (ESTRELLA EN EL BOSQUE) has been optioned to be a feature film!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back in January, I was thrilled to find a beautiful, heartfelt email from indie producer Dana Friedman in my inbox. She eloquently talked about how she and her daughter connected with the book thanks to a recommendation from the school librarian (YAY, librarians!) After reading it, Dana couldn't get it out of her mind, and envisioned it as a feature film for the whole family! And now that the deal is sealed, she can get started!

Gloria, me, and awesome literary agent, Erin Murphy, who helped negotiate the deal along with trusty film agent Eddie Gamarra of the Gotham Group.

Gloria and I feel enormously lucky that STAR is in such good hands with Dana. She's the owner of Kaleidoscope Media, and her most recent film, Learning to Drive (Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley), sensitively portrayed immigration issues in the context of a meaningful and moving cross-cultural friendship, with wonderful touches of humor. She cares deeply about the heartbreaks and challenges that immigrant families have been going through, and we all feel that the time is right to bring this story to the big screen.

Gloria Garcia Diaz has been involved in STAR since the first sparks of inspiration. She was invaluable throughout the whole process.... and we were beyond thrilled when Scholastic en Espanol published her lovely translation of STAR a couple years ago!

Gloria is not only a close, longtime friend, but also my writing partner, collaborator, and former ESL student (I taught English to adult immigrants for many years while I was writing my first books). As a Mexican immigrant trying to make a good life with her husband and daughter, Gloria has been deeply shaken by the increasing anti-immigrant sentiment in our federal government.

But the good news is: for the development of the film, Gloria will be a cultural consultant! This means she will help the script-writers and film-makers get every detail right regarding the life of immigrant families in these scary and sad times. We're over the moon that she will have this role!

If you haven't read STAR IN THE FOREST, you can read more about it , and you can read about the Spanish version (Or you could just read the book-- it's relatively short and would probably just take you an hour or so to finish!) It's for ages 8 and up-- it's a great family read-aloud, and a perfect starting point to discuss immigration issues with kids. Inspired by both a true story and southern Mexican folklore, it tells the experiences of a Mexican immigrant family in Colorado through the eyes of an eleven-year-old girl whose dad has just been deported. She's determined to reunite her family (with the help of a lovable stray dog, a zany new friend, and a bit of magic...)

Gloria and me leading a workshop for writers at the Bookbar in Denver.

While Gloria and I are starry-eyed and hopeful, we do know that there's no guarantee the development process will bear fruit in the form of a movie... but we feel that people's hearts are wide open to a story like this one, and we welcome any good wishes and energy you can send STAR'S way!

Heaps of love,

Laura

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to share the cover of my new novel coming out March 26, 2019 with Scholastic... Tree of Dreams!

Cover art by Charles Santoso

I absolutely LOVE the cover art by Charles Santoso, and am delighted with the overall design by Elizabeth Parisi and the rest of the team at Scholastic. And I'm enormously grateful to my brilliant editor, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and wonderful associate editor, Natalia Remis, for helping me shape this book into the final product (which is now at the page-proofing stage!)

Here's a summary of the book:

Coco loves chocolate. When she’s not helping run her Mom’s chocolate shop, El Corazón, she’s tinkering with recipes, devising unique and delicious treats to entice chocolate lovers. But amid this sweetness, a few things are troubling Coco. Her best friend and fellow chocolate maker Leo has stopped talking to her,ÌýEl Corazón is struggling, and Coco’s mom is thinking about closing its doors.

Soon Coco starts dreaming about a wise and wondrous ceiba tree that promises her answers. And when she and Leo get the opportunity to visit the Amazon Rain Forest, Coco has faith she’ll find this magical ceiba from her dreams � and save El Corazón.

But before good can emerge, there is destruction. Coco comes face-to-face with the environmental and cultural harm done to the rain forest and to the Huaorani people who call it home. As friendships bloom, her heart begins to ache for a way to help those in danger.

In this urgent, beautiful novel, acclaimed author Laura Resau shows us that love is more powerful than hatred, and that by working together —with a little magic â€� hope can always be restored, root and branch.Ìý

Ages 8 to 14 (and older teens and grown-ups who are young at heart...), Scholastic Press.

Release date: January 1, 2019

In front of a glorious ceiba tree with my amazing HuaoraniÌý guide, Pegonka in the Ecuadorian Amazon rain forest.

I had so much fun researching this book! Here are some links to my research adventures:

you can find blog posts and photos of my Nuance Chocolate shop and factory tours, and my visit to a sustainable cacao farm with Garden Island Chocolate in Kauai, Hawaii. (There are several posts... be sure to keep clicking "Older Posts" at the end of each page.)

you can find blog posts and photos of my research in the Huaorani territory of the Amazon rain forest in the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. (There are five posts total... be sure to keep clicking "Older Posts" when you get to the end of each page.)

Cacao! I got a chance to bash open the pods and scoop out the seeds while on a chocolate tour in Kauai, Hawaii.

Although I savored writing a story full of so much deliciousness and lushness, I also experienced some heart-breaking moments. After spending blissful, fascinating days in the rain forest learning from my new Huaorani friends, we floated a few hours downstream in a dugout canoe... only to witness oil drilling operations in full force. There, the landscape was a stark, gloomy, barren, spine-chilling contrast to the magnificent green paradise where I'd spent the previous days.

Through research and documentaries like Crude, I learned more about how oil drilling and logging operations devastate the health of the entire rain forest ecosystem and the indigenous people who have called it home for millenia.

I'd been planning to return to this Huaorani community again a year or two after my first visit, to work with Pegonka and other friends on their creative projects. But when I began to plan my second trip, I was deeplyÌý shaken to discover that an oil company had begun seismic oil exploration in my friends' territory. This involves planting explosives to locate possible drilling locations... and turning this part of the forest into a danger zone.

Blowgun target shooting (at a bromeliad flower)...

This sad turn of events made me even more determined to bring my book into the world. Although it's a work of fiction, the environmental issues in the story are very real and urgent, affecting the lives of forests and people daily. As with all my books, the ending is hopeful... and I am hopeful that Tree of Dreams will inspire readers to work together to respect and protect our earth.

Pegonka climbing a very tall tree to get some fruit...

Thanks for reading-- I can't wait to share Tree of Dreams with you next spring!

xo,

Laura

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Hello, beautiful readers!

I'm so excited to tell you all about my visit to , a small, sustainable cacao farm in Kilauea, on the northern shore of the island of Kauai, Hawaii. They're one of the only places in the U.S. that is truly a "seed to bar" chocolate business. They grow the cacao trees from seed and care for them with an environmentally-friendly permaculture model. After harvest, they break open the pods, then proceed to ferment, dry, roast, crack, winnow, and grind the beans. They add any extra yumminess, then mold the chocolate and sell it. It's so cool to see one family-run business (with four adults and three kids) put so much care into the process from start to finish!

Cacao pods
My novel, , is coming out Jan 1, 2019 (with Scholastic Press, ages 9 and up)-- so I've been filling my life with all things chocolate these past couple years of research and writing. Grueling, I tell ya. ;-)Ìý I've already done research with the fabulous 's factory and shop here in Fort Collins (which you can read about and )... but I really wanted to explore a sustainable cacao farm so that I understood the whole process. Here are my notes from the tour, interspersed with photos-- I thought I'd share them with you!

Koa's son

Koa, owner of Garden Island Chocolate, was our tour guide for the morning. He explained how he and his crew start seeds in pots, since the saplings are very delicate and you really have to baby them. Once they're established, Koa and the crew transplant the tiny trees into the ground. They plant them in dappled shade that comes from strategically placed taller trees, so that the cacao trees will be sheltered from wind and strong sunlight. Some of the trees that co-exist nicely with cacao on their farm are cinnamon, allspice, acai palm, breadnut, lychee, coconut, jackfruit, lahala, aku, avocado, zapote, and tamarind. (We also got to sample the spice and fruit from several of these trees!)

Cacao trees protected from too much sun and wind by taller trees
A few cacao pods might appear when the tree is two years old. By the time the tree is about five years old, it is producing about 20 pods per tree. By eight to ten years of age, it's producing about a hundred pods per tree. The pods are about the size of a Nerf football, and they grow directly from the branches and trunk of the tree. They are gorgeous colors, from garnet red to lemon yellow to pale green to deep purple. You can do a scrape test with your fingernail to see if the pod is ripe--Ìý If it's yellow where you scrape it, it's ripe; green means unripe.


Cacao trees mostly grow in tropical climates, close to the equator. Hawaii is one of the only sub-tropical places where cacao is grown successfully (farther from the equator). Kauai is a pretty rainy island (especially when we were there in March), but cacao can handle 200-300 inches of rain per year. The harvest is done between December and June here. Since the trees are fairly fragile, only about 16 out of every 20 trees survive.

Koa's other son
I was impressed with the permaculture model that Koa's farm uses... it's the idea that if you plant the right combo of plants and trees in the right conditions, that they can pretty much take care of themselves. For example, the larger trees provide sun and wind shelter for the cacao trees... and trees like tamarind, which are nitrogen-fixing, can provide a rich soil balance. Banana trees that have already produced fruit can be left up as a place for wild yeasts to thrive (useful for fermentation later.) Nothing is wasted-- for example, the chaff from the winnowing of the cacao beans (at a later stage) can be used as fertilizer and mulch. And as far as threats like wild pigs damaging saplings, well, you just suck it up and make peace with them.

Splitting open the cacao pods with a mallet
Garden Island Chocolates has a mixed variety of cultivars, largely hybrids. Koa was able to point out some pods that had criollo features, like white beans, a pointy shape, red and bumpy skin. (The main categories of cultivars are criollo (sweet, floral, light, disease-susceptible), Nacional (highly prized, rare), trinitario (hardy hybrid), and forastero, with a great many sub-varieties and hybrids, which makes any kind of standard classification difficult.) The farm allows wild midges (tiny flies) to pollinate the cacao, so there's plenty of cross-breeding and delightful randomness that defies categorization.

Freshly bashed-open cacao pod
The pods are harvested with a machete or sharp blade, never twisted off (to avoid damage). They are then bashed open with a mallet. (Koa's tween/teen sons enjoy this part-- they demonstrated with gusto, and then the participants got a chance to try. ;-) We got a chance to taste the interior of the pod at this point-- it's basically a bunch of beans/seeds in goopy mucilage. I sucked on a bean to taste the goo, which was a little sweet. Koa said that different varieties have different tastes... some more lemony, some more of a honey melon flavor.

Cacao beans still in the mucilage
After Koa and family and co-workers remove the seeds by hand (which usually takes an entire day per batch), it's time for fermentation. The crew does a wild ferment, which uses naturally occurring yeasts from the shells/skins and from the banana leaves the beans are covered with. Sometimes Koa adds wine yeast to give the chocolate a fruity flavor. He says that fermentation is the most important step in the chocolate-making process. He and his crew put the beans in a mahogany box with slats on the bottom so the liquid can drain out. He describes the smell of fermentation as a mix of bakery, brewery, and locker room (mmmmm...) He knows when fermentation is done by smelling the beans, and making sure they're brown all the way through. During fermentation, the naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria eat the sugars and convert them to alcohol and acids, a process that brings out the flavor precursors so that the final chocolate flavor is complex and layered. The fermentation stage lasts about a week at Garden Island, but could be shorter or longer elsewhere, depending on the types of cacao and environmental conditions.
Goopy cacao beans freshly scooped from the opened pods
The next stage is drying. Since northern Kauai is so rainy, which brings a threat of mold, Koa uses a dehydration machine; however, farms in dryer areas might spread the beans out on mats and let the sun and air dry them. After the drying stage, the cacao is ready to be roasted. Koa usually roasts a batch about once a week. I won't go into the details of the next stages here, since I discussed them in detail in earlier blog posts about my visits to Nuance Chocolate's small and charming in Fort Collins. To summarize, the beans are roasted, winnowed (husks separated from beans-- Koa uses a hair dryer!), cracked into nibs, ground in a melanger, mixed with other ingredients like honey or sugar, tempered (controlled heating and cooling), and poured into molds. For Garden Island Chocolate, all these steps-- from harvest to finished chocolate-- take about a month for one batch...

Cacao beans that have been fermented and dried
And voila... chocolate! The intricate flavor of chocolate depends on so many factors... the soil the cacao was grown in, the yeasts that fermented it, how long it was fermented, how long and at what temperature it was roasted, how long it was ground in the melanger, and of course, what ingredients were added to it. We got to taste over twenty samples of Garden Island chocolate during the tour, with palate cleansers of apple-banana and bread in between. Koa makes most of these especially for tour groups, and changes up the recipes all the times, depending on what's in season and on hand. He uses locally grown, organic ingredients, and sweetens them with honey. Our favorite was the lemon-coconut-honey chocolate. Some of the other samples we tried were: crystallized ginger, coconut milk curry, hemp seed, coffee, hazelnut, macadamia nut, cranberry, bee pollen, 5-chile spice, 99% cacao with salt and vanilla, and milk chocolate. It's so much fun to try to distinguish and describe the intricate layers of flavor in each sample. We washed the taster flight down with Mayan hot chocolate made with vanilla, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, coconut milk, black pepper, and turmeric. Yum!

Ready-to-eat chocolate samples!
Garden Island Chocolates grows many of the ingredients they add to their chocolate, including fruits, nuts, spices, and honey from their hives. They also use cacao and other ingredients from other farms in their co-op in Kauai-- many of these farmers have other professions, but produce these foods as a hobby. Koa has been making chocolate for about 10 years and growing cacao for 14 (along with all kinds of other tasty foods). During his tour, his passion and curiosity come through-- delightful qualities I've noticed in other chocolate makers. If you find yourself in Kauai, I highly recommend you swing by for a tour... more info .

Garden Island also sells their chocolate at this cute stand at their farm in Kilauea. Koa and his boys were kind enough to share their library of chocolate books with me... including this awesome pop-up version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I was enchanted by the original version by Roald Dahl as a kid... and I'm super-excited to contribute my own kids' book to the realm of chocolate-themed kid lit... WILD CHOCOLATE, coming January 1, 2019 with Scholastic (cover art in progress). I had so much fun weaving all my chocolate research into the novel (along with my)! You can read more about WILD CHOCOLATE . It's technically a kids' novel, but truly for lovers of chocolate and forests of any age!
Koa's boys with their mini chocolate-library
ÌýThanks so much for coming by!

xo,
Laura

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Hello, dear readers!

So, a few months ago, we were driving back from the mountains, going through the cute little town of LaPorte (just outside of Ft. Collins), when I noticed this array of adorable vintage campers.Ìý My curiosity was piqued (actually, I was drooling).


Soon enough, I discovered that these beauties are part of a new family business called , started by Lindsey (pictured above) and her mom, Anita. I couldn't resist writing an article about it for this summer issue of. They were only able to squeeze in a tiny article last minute, so I figured I'd supplement it here with some pics from my visit with Lindsey.


They have several 1960's trailers available to rent (for travel to a campsite or your home) at really reasonable prices. You just need to temporarily add the trailer to your auto insurance. And you need to have experience driving a trailer (though these are light and compact and can be pulled by a small truck or SUV.) These trailers would work well for a small family or couple.


This summery yellow-themed trailer is Buttercup, a completely rebuilt 1969 Go-Lite, just 10 feet long.Ìý Lindsey, Anita, and their husbands (Reuben and Louis, respectively) have renovated all these trailers themselves... this one was quite a bit of work. Totally worth it-- she's so sweet and cheery.

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And this is La Jolla, a 1965 Aristocrat. Love the color scheme!

On her website, Lindsey has suggestions of campsites you where you could bring the trailers.Ìý You just use the campsite bathrooms, since these don't have toilets. (One of my favorites is Dowdy Lake campground, in the Red Feather, CO area, about an hour from Fort Collins.)


Aren't the minty blue-green appliances beautiful?


And below is El Mojito, who is actually the same year and make as my own Winnie-- a 14-foot 1969 Red Dale, made here in Colorado. :-)Ìý This would be perfect for a family of four (2 adults, 2 kids). Ours fits me, Ian, our 10-year-old son, and Wilma our beagle with room to spare.


El Mojito has the same avocado green appliances as Winnie. It's so fun to see how Lindsey and Anita worked with the color in their design scheme... inspiring! And their back splash tile job looks snazzy-- it's a lightweight, stick-on style perfect for campers.Ìý


This next one is Rocky, an 11-foot, 1969 Colorado Travel Trailer...


He is mountain-and-fishing themed, with a built-in checkers/chess table. :-)


Lindsey was kind enough to give me tours of her works-in-progress, too! Here's a gorgeous 1950's canned ham with amazing potential...


I'm in love with the rich, natural wood interior. Can't wait to see this one finished...


Upon visiting my own trailers, Winnie and Peachy, many of my FC friends have shown interest in getting a trailer of their own. If you're in that boat, I'd recommend renting a camper from to try it out in the mountains for a weekend adventure. (After that, you'll probably be hooked and scouring Craig's List for one of your own. :-)

If you missed my latest post on my own Winnie and Peachy, you can read it and see pics .

And you can read my tiny article about Rescued Relics Rentals in Fort Collins Magazine .

Thanks for coming by!

Happy summer!
Laura