Alex Perry will help us learn how to make our readers—and ourselves—cry as we reach that all-important emotional climax.

Alex Perry used to teach middle schoolers in Houston, but now she writes books for kids everywhere. When she was six, she babysat a potbellied piglet and she’s been obsessed with his cuteness ever since. She just had to get that messy little guy into a book, and now she has. She lives in Arkansas with a messy little human baby, two huge dogs, and her husband. Pighearted is her debut novel.