About
From the time Vicki was very young, she liked to read (and still does!). Back then, if you were trying to find her, the place to look was on the big, swinging basket chair in her bedroom in Maplewood, New Jersey. There she would be, surrounded by pillows, with her nose in a book. Her favorite books were biographies and novels (they still are!).
Vicki loves to write and tell stories. Once, when she was 9 and at a slumber party, her friend’s mother banished her into another bedroom. A ghost story she told was so scary that her girlfriends couldn’t fall asleep. Needless to say, the mother never let her spend the night again.
Mostly, Vicki was curious about new ideas, people, and places. This curiosity led her in many directions. The first was to college at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a B.A. in American Civilization and Urban Studies. Then, after receiving a law degree from Cornell Law School, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, prosecuting criminal cases. In 2006 she received a M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Vicki started writing for children and young adults mainly because of her desire to research and find answers, and to pass on her enthusiasm for learning to kids. An article in the newspaper or a sound byte on TV would catch her attention. Soon she would be reading everything on the topic.
Vicki believes in the power of dreams and how dreams, if put into action, really do take flight. One person can have lots of dreams, too. In her life so far, she has been a student, a prosecutor, a writer, and an advocate for children and families. Her writing and reading have taken her to faraway places, where she has met many people and learned about new ideas. Vicki hopes her readers are inspired to do the same.
