The Heart is Not a Size is IndieBound!

Okay, so I just had to remove a few exclamation points up there in the title, so as to appear more my age, but: I cannot even begin to say how happy this news makes me. The Heart is Not a Size joins 11 other teen titles such as Carolyn Mackler's Tangled, Jennifer Hubbard's The Secret Year, and Swati Avasthi's Split on the American Booksellers Association's Spring 2010 Children's Indie Next List.

Here's what makes me feel even more blessed. Heart was nominated for this huge honor by none other than Mandy King of The Boulder Book Store, who wrote this:

"Beth Kephart has written another must-read book for teens in this story of a group of teens who travel to a Mexican border town to work to help the residents there. She isn't afraid to tackle such big issues as parental pressure, anorexia, and death, and she does it all with compassion, honesty, and beautiful writing." --Mandy King, The Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO

Mandy King: Sunlight.

A few months ago, I created this video—a brief reading from the book's opening pages, accompanied by the photographs of the gorgeous children of Anapra.