So this past Tuesday was my book’s official pub date, but it turned out that Monday, May 10th, was the much more exciting day. First, on Monday morning, I found out that The Beautiful Between was reviewed in Publishers Weekly (this is my favorite part): “Sheinmel makes an impressive debut with an absorbing tale of unlikely friendship, loss, and family secrets…the intriguing and well-defined characterizations will keep readers riveted.” But Monday became even better that afternoon because the folks at my office threw me a surprise party in honor of The Beautiful Between . They even had a cake with the book’s cover somewhat magically reproduced in frosting. Now, I made my boss promise me that I wouldn’t have to speak at the party, because I was totally embarrassed, but if I had talked, I think I would have said something about how much I love Random House Children’s Books, how lucky I feel to work there, how much my life has improved – personally and professionally – since I began work