Allie Millington

Slowly becoming more of a puddle with publication day approaching tomorrow, and because my author copies finally found their way to me. This is us last night, having a golden-hour moment together. I couldn’t help but share an inside peek at the dedication—it holds so much of the heart behind this book. It’s not too late to preorder a copy of OLIVETTI from any indie bookshop! **And if you’re new here, you should know: I’m giving away a typewriter to one lucky winner who preorders from @littleshopofstories, and another to a lucky winner who preorders from @shopthebookworm ✨ Thank you to all who have supported this pair of unlikely heroes—a typewriter who wants to find his voice, and a boy who wants to find the right words. And thank you to @mackidsbooks / @macmillanusa for believing in this book from the very beginning. ONE MORE DAY!

It’s me, hi, I’m a puddle, it’s me. But truly, someone please come scoop me up because we’ve wrapped the first week of OLIVETTI’s shelf life with this incredible news: he’s an instant USA Today Bestseller and an instant Indie’s Bestseller!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart (and the rest of it) for everyone who preordered, posted, reviewed, sold, displayed, and found something to love in this book. Thank you to the many indie shops who make this literary-world go around! And thank you to the One who showed me the way to this story, the Wind behind my words. I’m humbled and beyond grateful for the support surrounding this debut, and to be on this journey alongside the little typewriter who could.

Excuse me while I try to find the right words. Some of you may know that since the very beginning of writing OLIVETTI, I’ve had the wild pipe dream of somehow getting my little book into the hands of Tom Hanks (who is essentially the spokesman of all typewriters). Today I woke up to this unexpected news—that not only had Mr. Hanks read my book, but he understood it deeply and took the time to put together an incredibly thoughtful and beautifully written review in the NEW YORK TIMES. For him to have found meaning in my story has left me in shock, tears, and overcome with gratitude. It’s a testament that sometimes your seemingly far-fetched dreams aren’t as far off as you think. Thank you @tomhanks for seeing the magic of typewriters long before this—and for seeing something worth sharing in my story. This review will forever hang on my wall. Thank you to my wonderful publicist and team at @macmillanusa / @mackidsbooks for the endless support in spreading the word about OLIVETTI. And I just have to say—opening up my inbox this morning was the MOST surreal You’ve Got Mail moment I’ve had in my life. “What comes after that exemplifies the best of Millington’s literary imagination.” - @tomhanks @nytimes

An Ode to The Odenburgh (and to Olivetti) Last year I started this little tradition of spending a golden hour moment with a book of mine the night before it comes out. Taking a quiet moment to remember why I wrote it, and all the small steps that added up to its existence. When it was just me and the words on our own. As special as that time was, I’m forever grateful for the chance to share these stories with you. ONCE FOR YES (audiobook and hardcover) and OLIVETTI’s paperback are out and about today!

The Odenburgh has a story it wants to share with you… Told in alternating chapters between the building and its different tenants, here are a few things you can find inside ONCE FOR YES — 💡 Unique Narrator (with plenty of snark and schemes) 💡Holding Onto Home (and talk shows in the tub) 💡Unlikely Heroes (plus pets) 💡Found Family (and mixed up landlines) 💡Big Hearted Feelings (and big secrets) 💡The Power of Community (and flowers falling from the sky) If you’d like to join in on all the apartment building antics, you can grab ONCE FOR YES tomorrow at your favorite place to buy books!

In honor of OLIVETTI’s paperback releasing soon, I’m reminiscing on the Tom Hanks Moment — one that not only meant so much to me, but I think was meaningful for Middle Grade books in general. A year ago today, @tomhanks wrote a beautiful review of Olivetti in the New York Times, reinforcing the fact that Middle Grade is the genre for everyone and deserves a spot on the shelf. It’s powerful to see people using their platform to speak about the importance and impact children’s literature can have on readers of all ages, and how it’s worth fighting for. We are all better humans for having Middle Grade books in our lives, are we not? You can find OLIVETTI’s paperback out in the world this Tuesday (isn’t he handsome?) Bonus content included!

G I V E A W A Y 💡✨ We are about one week out from the pub day of ONCE FOR YES (hardcover & audio), so I’m giving away a signed and stamped copy! How lovely is the design that @jeffelicious created for the cover—and the sweet surprise waiting underneath? To enter the giveaway: 💡follow me 💡tag someone you would want to share a landline with (and possibly listen to all of their conversations 😉) 💡bonus point if you share on your story or sign up for my newsletter! Giveaway ends this Friday at 12pm EST. VERY excited to share this story of The Odenburgh & Co with you all soon! @mackidsbooks @recordedbooks

Crumpet is patiently awaiting her copy of Once For Yes, which of course will be the audio version (out March 25th with @recordedbooks and two award winning narrators!) If you’re curious what an old apartment building might sound like, along with a cast full of quirky residents, be sure to give the audiobook a listen! In the meantime, swipe to see what a few early readers have been saying about Once For Yes— available for preorder anywhere! P.S. stay tuned for a first glimpse inside the book and a special giveaway coming soon!

💡 The signals are everywhere—you’re invited to the release party of ONCE FOR YES at Little Shop of Stories on March 25th! We’ll be talking all about The Odenburgh & apartment building antics, and bookish-behind-the-scenes! Come ready to write your own postcard to send to someone special (and there’s a good chance a typewriter or two will show up). Whether or not you’re able to make it, you can still preorder ONCE FOR YES from @littleshopofstories to receive a signed and personalized copy, along with some goodies! 💡 The event is free, but please register through the link below: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/allie-millington-once-for-yes-tickets-1147580346709?aff=ebdiglgoogleliveevents&source=ev

Kicking off Middle Grade March with a lovely trade review of Once For Yes! We are just 4 weeks away from the release, which means there’s still time to preorder from your local bookshop and snag yourself some thank you gifts (check my bio!) I truly can’t wait to share The Odenburgh and it’s tenants with you all, but for now I’ll share a snippet of this beautifully written review from BCCB: “…with brick-and-mortar gusto, the omnipresent building co-narrates along with Prue and an assorted inhabitants of the other apartments on each floor, including Lewis, a boy with binoculars from across the street. There’s a welcome sense of levity in the building’s droll descriptions of the trials and tribulations of being structurally compromised by shoddy plumbing, a rodent infestation, and a crumbling foundation but nonetheless proud to house an eclectic menagerie between its walls. The gradual development of a tight-knit Odenburgh community formed from disparate strangers combines with gentle plotting and careful reveals make a refreshingly clever, emotionally rich exploration of loss in its varied forms. Offering no easy solutions, this is a well-crafted read with a tragedy at its heartbreaking center and a constellation of moving parts that draw readers into its uniquely human anti-gentrification story.”

We are officially ONE month out from the release of ONCE FOR YES, which means it’s time to share some tour dates! 💡✨ These are just a few of the confirmed OFY events so far over the next few months— and if you’re local to theses areas I would love to see you! (Teachers & librarians — let’s plan some visits!) I’ll be running my preorder campaign & giveaway for the next 3 weeks, so be sure to fill out the form in my bio if you’d like to receive some thank you gifts. P.S. If you don’t see your local bookshop listed here, fear not — I’ll also be announcing other stops for my picture book tour of WHEN YOU FIND A HOPE, and some exciting OLIVETTI paperback events very soon! ✨

The Odenburgh may be made of old bricks and blunt opinions, but he doesn’t mind this new shiny gold seal one bit! Thank you to the Junior Library Guild for selecting the story of The Odenburgh and his tenants for this incredibly special honor! To thank those who have preordered Once For Yes, I’ll be sending out postcards, bookmarks, and a personalized bracelet — all you have to do is fill out the form in my bio. This will also enter you into a giveaway to win your own Book Nook version of The Odenburgh to stack on your shelf! All my gratitude to @jrlibraryguild for helping guide this book into the hands of readers 💡