about the book
Julia’s family moved onto the block just over a year ago. Ever since then, Julia and Taylor have been inseparable, whether it’s riding their bikes, painting by numbers, or trying to flirt with their crushes.
And now that it’s summer, they can spend all day, everyday together!
But there’s a new girl on the block. Taylor is all gaga for Alyssa and Alyssa’s new ball game called Russia. If that wasn’t bad enough, Alyssa is always criticizing Julia who has to fight to be included.
“Why did it feel like Alyssa had already lived on Darcy Lane forever and I was the new girl again?”
Can Julia reclaim her BFF from her rival in an epic Russia showdown?
about the author
Tara Altebrando has lived in four out of the five boroughs of New York City: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The only one she’s missing is The Bronx!
By the time she was six, Tara was already making picture books. As she began music and dance, she always made time to continue writing—even if it was just in her diary. She also joined her high school newspaper.
Her first middle grade novel, The Battle of Darcy Lane, is based on Tara’s experiences as a twelve year old, with her, her best friend, and a not-so-best-friend. It was like a competition, which is not something friendship should be.
Tara approaches her writing in a very business-like way. She writes from 9am-2pm every day while her kids are at school. “If I show up, then good things will happen.”
She collects spoons from cities and states around the country and world—the collector’s spoons, not plain old kitchen spoons. Currently, she has about 150 of them.
To get exercise, she uses her small trampoline. Her home has high ceilings.
Tara lives in Queens, New York, with her husband and two daughters.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Laurie Morrison
Author video interview: Foodie Bibliophile
Book trailer: Battle of Darcy Lane
Also by Tara Altebrando:
My Life in Dioramas. Running Press Kids. 2015.
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