VOTE FOR IT: Inspiring People from Houston, Texas

Inspired by the good librarians at #TxLA, today I launch #voteforit #50Cities: a new feature on my A Day in the Life blog. Once a week (or so!), I'll turn to readers for help deciding between the inspiring people, interesting foods, curious landmarks, and moments to remember to include in one of the 50 cities in our upcoming book, 50 CITIES (Wide Eyed Editions, October 2017). 

I'd love to hear what you think should be included (and why!) so please drop me a line in the comments.

Happy exploring!

VOTE FOR IT: Which inspiring person should we include for Houston, Texas?
KATHI APPELT b.1954 The award-winning author of The Underneath lives in Houston and was born in the front seat of her dad's car!

DIANNA HUTTS ASTON b.1964 The award-winning author of An Egg is Quiet was born in Houston and loved reading about dinosaurs as a child.

Rock Out to a State PlayList...Spanish Harlem Incident

You gotta have tunes while you work, and if the subject matter of the song happens to match the topic, all the better! Join me in listening to my STATE PLAYLIST, which at the moment is really a New York City Playlist, to cheer me while researching New York City for 50 STATES, coming to you in Fall 2017. 

For each city I always list a few good children's books that either take place in that city or are written in authors from that city. There are so many good choices for New York that I've had to start a pinterest board. For NYC, I listed a few of my favorite New York songs, "Spanish Harlem Incident" by Bob Dylan, for Aaron, and "Manhattan" by Cat Power, for me. They kick off the playlist.

My mom got me TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold when Is tarted college at Barnard, on New York's upper west side. It kicks off the pinterest board.