About

Lenore Look is the award-winning author of numerous children’s books including the popular Alvin Ho series and the Ruby Lu series. Her books have been translated into many languages. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

This glob is for all the young readers she meets who tell her that they want to be authors too! Follow along if you want to know what it takes to be a real author. Lenore will take you on her research trips and other perilous adventures. She’ll give you survival tips for writing. Maybe a few escape routes too. She might show you how to conduct an interview. Or she might not. She might introduce you to a few of her author/illustrator friends. She could change this free-for-all to a pay-per-view. It could happen any time. You never know.  So make sure you have your parent’s credit card in your RDK (Reading Disaster Kit), just in case. Then you can judge for yourself on whether you have the right stuff for a life of intrigue! murder! mystery! mayhem! deadlines! Well, maybe not murder. And no intrigue either. But certainly mystery, such as can I use a semicolon? It’s a mystery. Maybe you can and maybe you can’t. No one really knows. But one thing’s for sure — there’ll be lots of mayhem and deadlines!

45 thoughts on “About”

    • Hi. I love seeing an asian american main character, but I find the title of your book “Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things” problematic. I am looking for books for my toddler that reflect her, an asian american with food allergies. I have not read this book and am mostly inquiring.. does Alvin Ho have allergies, or is he, as amazon describes, just afraid of things? If he is indeed only afraid it can cause children to believe that allergies are not as dangerous as they are. It is already hard to advocate when others do not quite understand just how different life is for a fa child.
      I once asked a chef if a meal was safe for my daughter and he responded “if you are afraid dont eat it” and laughed at us.

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  2. Hi, Ms. Look! I like your website. It is pretty funny. I hope that you’re doing well and I look forward to your next book. I’m in 4th grade now and haven’t had to use my PDK yet.

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  5. Lenore – we would love have you as an author visit here at Alexander Hamilton School. I am the media specialist and have given your name to my HSA.

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  6. Hi Lenore,
    We are all so excited about your coming to Samantha Smith Elementary on March 8th! Your books do not lay idle for long on our shelves. See you soon,
    Barb Regan
    Librarian

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  7. Hi Lenore….Happy Belated Birthday. I know your birthday is near Chuck’s (his was the 4th). Thought of you and WOW! am amazed at YOU!.. Please get in touch with me, it would be good to see you again and catch up. Have a great day. Cheryl Garman

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  8. Lenore, I so enjoyed meeting you at the author signing Park Place Books and Ben Franklin in Kirkland last month. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on writing, and for spending time with me and my kids! I hope you recovered from your marathon trip.

    You had told us about the publisher’s concerns about your 7 year old character driving–did you see this news about a 6 year old who took the family car for a drive to get Chinese food? He would fit right in with Ruby!
    http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130413/METRO/304130370

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  9. Lenore,
    I just discovered your blog. Love it!!
    My six-year-old son and I discovered Alvin a couple months ago and he has now read – and adored – all of them. He’s on the shy side himself and loved relating to Alvin’s struggles and celebrating his triumphs. I ADORE Alvin on many levels. Thank you for such a wonderful series. I look forward to introducing my daughters to Ruby Lu in the next couple years.
    Marilee Haynes
    author of a.k.a. Genius (August 2013 by Pauline Books and Media)
    momnbeans.blogspot.com

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    • Hi Marilee! Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m sorry I didn’t see your message until just now (October 22). I never check this section of my blog. Thanks for letting me that your son enjoys Alvin. I think that he would like Ruby too. It’s a girl protagonist, but it’s not a girly book. Best wishes on your books! xxoo

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  10. Lenore,
    We heard about you through Ironia Elementary School and would like to know some of the details about how we could possibly get you to come to our school, which is only minutes away! lmk. Thanks, in advance.

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    • Hi Theresa, Thanks for stopping by! I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment until just now (October 22). I would love to visit your school. Please contact my publicist Lisa McClatchy at liske@aol.com. She will arrange everything for you. I had such a great time at Ironia. What a warm, nurturing place that is. The children were treated with great respect, and they in turn were very kind and polite :). I just loved it. Thank you for thinking of me.

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  11. Pingback: Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look, illustrated by Meilo So | BookDragon

  12. My 9 y.o. son is begging me to scour the internet to see if you have any Alvin Ho books coming out. We are holding our breath! My son loves your books and has read all of the Alvin Ho books at least two times. It’s great reading about a humorous and kindhearted book, Alvin, who looks like my son; not many Asian American boys in novels these days. You have been the catalyst for my son’s love of reading . . . it took a while. Please write more. Where can he email you a lettter?

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    • Hi Caresse, Thanks so much for stopping by! I’m so happy that your son loves Alvin. The final Alvin book (#6) will be released next year, ALLERGIC TO THE GREAT WALL, TERRA COTTA SOLDIERS AND OTHER TOURIST ATTRACTIONS. The series is ending and I’ll be moving on to my next great adventure — to write a stand-alone novel with NO sequels whatsoever!!!! None. Not even a word. Period.

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  13. Pingback: Brush of the Gods – ML wants to meet the author and illustrator | What is ML Reading?

  14. My 7 year-old daughter and I just discovered your books at our public library and we’re both hooked! Although neither of us is Chinese, my older son is half-Chinese, and it’s nice for my younger kids to have literary role models that resemble their beloved older brother. Thank you for writing these books! We look forward to more!

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  15. I was looking for books for my daughter and came across your Ruby Lu book. I went ahead and borrowed it from the library. I decided to start reading the beginning and I was presently surprised that setting was in Beacon Hill. I yelled to my daughter and said “I know those places in the book because I grew up there”

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  16. I just found your blog and I am so excited! I was so lucky to have met you a few years ago when you came to my former school for a authors chat (Graham, In Washington State). I love your writing so much that I convinced my new second grade team to use your books in their classes. Your writing has given my class many opportunities to to laugh as well as talk about issues students face. We also love the way we can tie what we read into a writing experience. You handle issues so beautifully. I have read Alvin Ho to my class for a few years now and I have to admit I still can not remain dry eyed in the chapter where Alvin and his dad go to the ice cream shop. We are very excited that you are from our area of the world and hope that some day we will be able to meet you.

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  17. I met you at Debbies service briefly. I am on the board OASL and we wanted to put a piece honoring Debbie in the next Journal coming out in January. I was wondering if it would be alright to use your memories of her that you posted on your blog. It would, of course be credited to you. Needless to say, please let us know if this doesn’t feel right.

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  19. Hello, my name is Damen Browne. I am a 2nd Grade teacher in Accra, Ghana. My students have been reading different book series so they can form book clubs. One of the groups have been reading Alvin Ho. They chose to write you a letter to tell you how much they love your book. The following blog replies are from them: Inaya, Hannah and Rori. Thanks for your time and we hope to hear from you.
    Damen

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    • Hi Damen,
      Thank you SO much for sharing my books with your students. I’m THRILLED to be hearing from fans in GHANA!!! Wow!!! I would love to visit your school and learn more about life in Ghana, please invite me. Meanwhile I’ll write back to Inaya, Hannah and Rori. Thanks again for all your support!
      All my best,
      Lenore

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  20. Dear Lenore Look.
    I am so glad you wrote the book Alvin Ho because it’s very funny and entertaining to read. It’s entertaining because he is allergic to everything. My favorite character is Anibelly because she is smart. She is smart because she knows how to tie knots that will not come loose. My favorite part of the book is when he was running naked. He was running naked because he was scared.
    Sincerely
    Hannah

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    • Dear Hannah,

      Thanks very much for reading Alvin and writing to let me know. I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed him and Anibelly. It was great fun to write about them. Because Anibelly is smart, Alvin is deathly afraid of falling behind her, can you tell? Are you a writer too? You could write about adventures that kids have in Ghana. I would love to learn more about life in Ghana through your eyes. I hope you’ll write about it!

      All my best,
      Lenore

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  21. Dear Lenore Look,
    Hello, my name is Rori. I am from South Africa. I love your books because you make the adventures so fun and funny. My favorite chapter is Sitting in Your Underwear is a Little Boring. I like it because Alvin Ho does not go anywhere without dirty underwear. Which character do you like best? Anyway, I love your books.
    Love Rori
    Accra, Ghana

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    • Dear Rori,

      Thanks very much for loving Alvin and for letting me know! The easiest part of writing the books was the titles. After a chapter was finished, often what I should name it would just come to me, just like that. Other times, I had to think about it. And a few times my editor and I would disagree on it, but eventually I’d come up with something that made us both half-happy. Anyway, Sitting in Your Underwear is a LIttle Boring was one of those perfect titles that worked as soon as rushed up to me and knocked me over. I’m glad you like it too. My favorite character is Alvibelly or Anniven (Anibelly and Alvin put together) — neither would be so great without the other, and I really can’t say which I like best because they’re all my children, and an author loves all her little darlings equally.

      Much love to you,
      Lenore

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  22. Dear Lenore Look,
    Hi, my name is Inaya (ee-naiy-a). I am reading Alvin Ho, one of your books to be exact. I just crack up reading your books! They are so funny! I sure am glad they are in Ghana. In the future I would like to visit you.
    Sincerely,
    Inaya

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    • Dear Inaya,

      Thank you for reading Alvin and for writing to me. It’s great to know that my books crack you up. You’re welcome to visit me anytime, just make sure you have your parents’ permission and a suitcase filled with homemade kube toffees and nkate cakes. If you didn’t make them yourself, forget it, you cannot come if you’ve gotten them from a store or a seller. No cheating! And no sneak-snacking them while in transit. See you soon!

      Yours truly,
      Lenore

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  24. Dear Ms. Look,
    My second graders have just discovered Alvin. They are so loving it!! We are currently on Chapter 7 of the first book…..Johnny Astro. They are making connections….especially with Alvin’s school closing for two weeks for Chicken Pox and our school closed due to the coronavirus. Thank you for writing such an amazing book.
    Mrs. Silvana Zambrano

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  25. dear ms look I love how much personality the characters in your book have . There is so much funny stuff in your book Alvin ho.

    from Julia

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  26. Hi Lenore. We’re reading Ruby Lu series and a detail caught our eyes. It’s set in a neighborhood named ‘Beacon Hill’, Christina moved from California, Ruby’s home is on ‘20th Avenue South’. So we have to ask, is this ‘Beacon Hill’ in Seattle, Washington, USA? Cause we live in there and will make a huge deal out of ‘Ruby Lu is set in Beacon Hill’.

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  27. Hi Lenore! Just wanted to say HI, and let you know I am currently sharing the “Alvin Ho” series with my story-loving 7-year-old grandson Luca — who spotted an instant parallel between Alvin and “Scaredy Squirrel” and has adopted them both as his all-time favorite story characters so far.

    Happy Year of the Wood Dragon to you. I hope you are doing well!

    Sincerely,
    Joy Chu
    [long-time fan]
    http://www.facebook.com/groupsgotstory?
    joyjoychu@gmail.com

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