LUCY THE GIANT came about on my first trip to Alaska. I was visiting a totem pole at the University of Alaska in Juneau with a friend of my host. The school inspired her to tell me of her days working in a special school for at-risk teens. She referred to one overweight girl as "Lucy the Giant." The name stuck with me. I wrote it down, and started to travel.

From Juneau, I flew in the smallest plane imaginable to Skagway, the gateway to the Yukon. Then I traveled south on the Alaskan Marine Highway-a ferry system that sails the channels from town to town. I slept in a sleeping bag on a lawn chair on the roof of the boat in the freezing cold, and sat in the cafeteria during the day, writing down everything I saw. A woman eating with her family came up to me and asked if I was a writer. I smiled sheepishly and said, "I don't know. Not really."

The ferry ride took a day and a night, and ended when we arrived at Sitka. A man I met on the boat who was working on a book about Alaskan canoes told me he was there to cover a canoe ceremony. He gave me a ride into Sitka and bought me breakfast at the McDonalds where Lucy the Giant eats in the mornings. We parted ways at the totem pole park on the edge of town. I spent the next few hours walking the length of the city, memorizing what I saw. If I say I fell in love with Alaska, it was really Sitka that stole my heart.

In 2004 LUCY THE GIANT was printed in Dutch. As if that wasn't amazing enough, the Dutch version, wonderfully translated by Jenny de Jonge as LUCY XXL won an honorable mention at De Gouden Zoen, or Golden Kiss Awards. De Gouden Zoen is awarded to Dutch and foreign authors of young adult books by a jury of industry professionals. Sherri was lucky enough to visit the Netherlands to accept the award. Many thanks to Gottmer, LUCY's Dutch publisher, and to the award's sponsoring organzation, the CPNB.