12.11.2019: Finding Hope Through Story

“Other people’s stories have the power to help us understand our own—and sometimes, to change the narrative.”

I wrote a piece for the January 2020 issue of The Writer magazine called Finding Hope Through Story. It’s about what I thought I’d be writing when I started the book that became Always Forever Maybe, and how developing my first-draft clichés into something more nuanced led to a different story altogether—and unearthed some uncomfortable memories (which I still feel vulnerable sharing). Find it here or on newsstands now. Thanks for reading.

Always Forever Maybe comes out in paperback on February 4, and the hardcover, ebook, and audio versions are all available now. You can also find it in Danish!

Meanwhile, I’m hard at work on a fun secret project I hope to announce soon (but here’s a hint: boo!). And illustrator Mika Song’s and my forthcoming picture book, Love, Sophia on the Moon, received its first trade reviews, which have me beaming. Publishers Weekly praised how it “gently portrays the stubborn flight and the resulting plight of a frustrated child,” and Kirkus predicted, “Readers will love it to the moon and back.” (It comes out in March. Yes, you can preorder it now!)

Friends in NYC, please save the date for a Love, Sophia on the Moon launch party with Mika and me at Stories Bookshop in Brooklyn on Sunday, March 29, 2020 at 10:30am. There will be snacks!

Love, Sophia on the Moon F&Gs (advance copies), and hot cocoa on notes for my work-in-progress

8.5.2019: Magic Show Mix-Up Cover Reveal

And now, for our next trick…

I’m delighted to share the cover for Anna, Banana, and the Magic Show Mix-Up—book eight in the Anna, Banana chapter-book series—which comes out November 5, 2019 in hardcover, paperback, and ebook.

Ta-da!

The adorable cover art is by Cassey Kuo, and you’ll find many more of her fun illustrations inside.

What's it about? Friendship! Magic tricks! Secrets! Surprises! Problem-solving! Party planning! A lop-eared rabbit named Miss Fluffybutt—and, of course, a wiener dog named Banana. To learn more about the plot and read a brief excerpt, click here.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you!) please ask for it at your local bookstore or library, or use one of these retailer links: Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | BAM | Apple Books | Indigo | Target | Book Depository (international) | S&S. You can also add or review it on Goodreads.

Thanks for reading!

12.5.2018: Books for Underfunded Schools and Libraries

Always Forever Maybe has been out in the world for six months today, and to celebrate, I’m hoping to donate some copies to underfunded school and public libraries. Will you please help spread the word?

If that’s your school or library, please request the book at https://tinyurl.com/AFMdonation (that link brings you to a google form). If you know of an underfunded school or library in need of YA books, please share this post with them. You can also find a shareable version of it on my Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages. Thanks for your help!

I’m so grateful to all of you who have read, shared, borrowed, bought, or talked about the book this year. Your support means the world.

P.S. The Anna, Banana chapter-book giveaway has closed, and I’m in the process of sending more than 100 new books to Title I public schools in eighteen different states.

P.P.S. If you’re in NYC, come see me tonight at my last public event of the year: Teen Author Reading Night at the Jefferson Market branch of the New York Public Library. I’ll be sharing the stage with some incredible writers, and reading from and talking about Always Forever Maybe. More details here.

3.27.2018: Sleepover Secret Cover Reveal (and New Illustrator Reveal!)

Now there are six! ...and here comes the seventh. 

Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster (book six in the Anna, Banana chapter-book series) came out last week in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. The book is full of sweet treats (and snickerdoodle secrets, friendship messes, and kitchen disasters), so I took it out for ice cream to celebrate. 

When I started writing the first story about Anna, her dog, and her two best friends, I never dreamed there would someday be six of them (let alone with the seventh and eighth soon to follow—more on that below). I am grateful to each and every one of you who has helped make this happen and/or cheered me on along the way. Thank you.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster yet, please ask for it at your local bookstore or library, or find it online using one of these links: B&N | Indiebound | Amazon | BAM | iBooks | Indigo | Target | S&S | Goodreads

And speaking of book seven... I'm thrilled to share the cover for Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret, which comes out on October 2, 2018. This is the first Anna, Banana cover by new illustrator Cassey Kuo, who is coming on board for the next books in the series, and I absolutely love it. (To see more of Cassey's fabulous artwork, check out her Instagram page.) 

What's it about? A sleepover! Secrets! Older sisters! Surprises! Truth or Dare! Supersparkly nail polish! And Isabel's enormous tabby cat, Mewsic. To learn more about the plot and read a brief excerpt, click here.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you!) or add it to your Goodreads TBR, here are the links: Indiebound | B&N | BAM | Amazon (paperback | hardcover) | Indigo | S&S | Goodreads

3.16.18: Love, Sophia on the Moon

New book news! 

I'm over the moon to share this news about my third(!) picture book. Love, Sophia on the Moon is an epistolary story near and dear to my heart, and I'm thrilled to be creating it with the talented Mika Song (if you're not already familiar with Mika's amazing illustrations, please check out the cuteness on her website), super editrix Rotem Moscovich, and the whole wonderful team at Disney-Hyperion. 

There's lots of mischief and make-believe in this one, and some tugging at heart strings too. I hope you'll like it.

Here's the official announcement* from Publishers Weekly (plus a photo I took of a balloon last week in Tampa after AWP):

Love, Sophia on the Moon doesn't come out until summer 2020, but I have three new books coming out this year to tide you over in the meantime, and all of them are available for pre-order now: 

Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster (#6) comes out March 20 (next week!) in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. It contains baking disasters, friendship messes, snickerdoodle secrets, and, of course, a cute dog.

Always Forever Maybe, my YA debut, releases on June 5 in hardcover, ebook, and audio. I am really excited for you to read this one. I spent six years working on it, and it makes me nervous and giddy just thinking about it being real. It's about obsessive love, toxic masculinity, enduring friendship, and the risks we take with our hearts.

Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret (#7) comes out October 2 in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. Cover reveal coming soon! This one includes a sleepover and many secrets (of course), not to mention Truth or Dare surprises and an enormous cat named Mewsic.

Click on any of the above titles for further information, including pre-order links. Thanks for your interest and support!

(*Photo text: Rotem Moscovich at Disney-Hyperion has bought Love, Sophia on the Moon, a picture book by Anica Mrose Rissi, author of the Anna, Banana series and The Teacher's Pet. In the story, Sophia writes letters threatening to run away to "the moon" to avoid being in trouble on Earth, and her mother writes back. Tea with Oliver author-illustrator Mika Song will illustrate; publication is set for 2020. Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at DeFiore and Company represented the author, and Erica Rand Silverman at Stimola Literary Studio represented the artist.)

1.13.2018: Picture-Book Revision Tips

From Promising to Polished

I wrote a piece for the January 2018 issue of The Writer magazine (out now!) about how to revise a picture-book manuscript. In it, I share my best tips, tricks, questions, and approaches to keep in mind as you play and experiment with your draft. To read a PDF of the article, click here.

Speaking of picture books, this week I got to see early sketches for Watch Out for Wolf!, my 2019 picture book with Charles Santoso, and I squealed louder than Pigbert—or Piggle, Piggleton, Piggit, or Piggums, for that matter. I can't wait for you to meet all five little piggies (and Wolf, of course) when the book comes out next April. As soon as I'm allowed to share a peek of the cover and interiors, I will. (If you'd like to add the book on Goodreads, you'll find it here.)

In the meantime, I'm finishing up revisions on Anna, Banana, and the Sleepover Secret (book seven in the series, coming in October), drafting what I hope will be my next YA novel, and trying to contain my nerves and excitement as advance reader copies of Always Forever Maybe make their way into the hands of booksellers and reviewers. Some fun news: In addition to the hardcover and ebook editions coming in June, HarperCollins will also publish Always Forever Maybe as an audiobook! (Available for pre-order now, wherever you like to purchase books.) Huge thanks to the B&N Teen blog for including Always Forever Maybe on their list 21 of Our Most Anticipated Debuts of 2018. They said: "This is a story about first love, sweet until it turns bitter....Rissi has a deft touch on a heavy topic, addressing abuse while still managing to infuse this meaty debut with romance, real #BFF goals, and dashes of humor."

And here are some photos of my dog with her new teddy bear.

11.15.2017: Free Books for Schools in Need

UPDATE (11.19.2017): Thanks to all of you who helped spread the word about these donations! The response has been overwhelming--I've already promised to send far more books than I originally budgeted to buy. I am going to fill all requests that have already come in (approximately 900 books), but unfortunately now I need to start turning new requests down. If you'd like to be among the first to know about future giveaways and other book news, please sign up for my newsletter (see sidebar).

This fall, I'm hoping to donate copies of the Anna, Banana chapter books and my picture book The Teacher's Pet to high-poverty public elementary schools* (meaning either Title I or schools where more than 70% of the students qualify for free or reduced-price meals). If that's your school, please be in touch! And if you know of a school in need, please encourage a teacher, librarian, or administrator there to reach out to me. My email is anicamroserissi at gmail dot com.

In the final weeks of 2016, I sent more than four hundred books to schools in twenty-three states. I hope to donate even more books this year.

If you're inclined to share this post to help spread the word, please do. You'll also find the below graphic in shareable form on my Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter accounts. Thank you!

*U.S. schools only, due to shipping costs. Giveaway ends December 15, 2017.

The Anna, Banana chapter books are best for students in grades 1-4. For more information about the series, please click here. The Teacher's Pet, illustrated by Zachariah OHora, is best for students in Pre-K through graduate school. For more information about the book, including reviews and a peek inside, please click here.

10.9.2017: Always Forever Maybe cover reveal

Ahhhhhhhhh, I'm so excited to show you the cover of my YA debut, Always Forever Maybe, a novel about obsessive teenage love, which will be published by HarperTeen (an imprint of HarperCollins) on June 5, 2018. Here it is:

Isn't it gorgeous? The cover is the work of artist Sean Freeman and designer Erin Fitzsimmons. The B&N Teen Blog hosted the official cover reveal today, and you can follow this link to read the post I wrote for them about the cover creation process.  

To learn more about the book, please visit the official Always Forever Maybe page on my website. If you would like to pre-order a copy of the hardcover or ebook, please ask for it at your local bookstore or follow one of these links: Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Kindle | iTunes | BAM | Indigo | HarperCollins (Pre-orders can make a huge difference in a book's success, so thank you for your support!) You can also add it to your Goodreads shelf here.

And now, excuse me, but I must return to dancing around the room in celebration. (My book has a cover! This seems almost real!)

7.20.2017: The Recipe for Disaster Cover Reveal

Get ready to make some messes....

Anna and her friends stir up some sweet treats—and a scoop of trouble—in the kitchen in Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster. This sixth book in the Anna, Banana series isn't out until March 2018, but I'm delighted to share Meg Park's adorable cover art and a peek inside today. 

First, here's the cover!

And here's what it's about:

Anna, Sadie, and Isabel love sharing sweet treats, and they're ready to put their baking skills to the test. The plan? To make the best-ever cookies for the library bake sale! Even Anna's dog, Banana, feels certain the girls can win.

There's only one problem: Monica, Sadie and Isabel's new friend who keeps stirring up trouble. Monica, who might be trying to steal Anna's best friends away from her. Can Anna's special new recipe help win them back, or will an unexpected ingredient turn things from sweet to sour?

Would you like a peek inside? Here's a brief excerpt from Chapter Nine: Take a Bite.

Sadie perked right up. “Do you want to bake with us on Saturday morning?” she asked Monica. 

Say no, say no, say no, say no, I thought. I didn’t want to be mean, but I also didn’t want to bake cookies with her. I barely knew this girl, yet somehow she and my best friends had a secret handshake and inside jokes. I didn’t want to include someone who made me feel so left out.

I knew that friendship, like the bake sale, wasn’t really a competition. But I couldn’t help it: I wanted to win.

—From Anna, Banana, and the Recipe for Disaster

Hooray for cookies and messes! And, as always, for friendship and dogs. If you'd like to pre-order a copy (thank you) or add the book on Goodreads, here are the links: Indiebound | Amazon | B&N | BAM | Goodreads. The hardcover, paperback, and ebook editions will all be released on March 20th.  

Also: When I wrote that first story about a girl and her dog and a fight with a best friend, I never imagined that a few years later, I'd have written six books about that girl, her dog, and her friends, and be about to start writing the seventh. THANK YOU to all the friends and strangers who have read one of my books; bought one of my books; shared it with a kid; spread the word amongst readers, teachers, booksellers, parents, or librarians; come to one of my book events; invited me to visit your library or school; or even just clicked a supportive "like" on a writing-related Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram post. Your support has meant the world.

Chapter One: Batter Up