Gracefully Grayson

Ami Polonsky is a children’s book author. Her first novel is Gracefully Grayson (2014). Since then, she has written and published Threads (2016), Spin With Me (2021), and World Made of Glass (2023). Polonsky worked as a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Onahan Elementary School in Chicago from 2001 to 2006 and credits her experience with inspiring her to write for children. She states:

Teaching middle-school English has 100% helped me become a better writer. Reading and discussing and dissecting novels with students is what helped me to intuit other writer’s processes and decisions. [...] Seeing firsthand how the students respond to different novels helped me understand what’s on their minds, what’s relevant for them, what they’re ready to take on emotionally, which is always a lot more than adults generally might think. I saw what they can grasp easily and what’s overwhelming. And [middle graders] want to be understood, to be seen and accepted; they want to feel capable. And I think they’re often looking for a scaffolding to help them grow and develop, and the novels help them do that (Schulman, Martha. “Q & A with Ami Polonsky.” www.publishersweekly.com).

Thematically, Polonsky’s books often revolve around LGBTQ+, and particularly transgender, characters.