TAKE IT FROM THE TOP is available now. 📚

Just a note, from me to you.

At this stage in my career, I’ve been interviewed many times. I’m not, like, a Good Morning America regular. But I’ve been on a lot of podcasts and featured on a lot of blogs. Speaking events. A handful of magazine appearances. My small town newspaper, The Lakeland Times.

Nearly every time I’m interviewed, I’m asked the same handful of questions. One that nearly always comes up is, when did you know you wanted to be a writer?

And my answer is the same: always. I can’t remember not wanting to be a writer. I can still smell the Borders my grandma would take me too; I can still see giant staircase leading up to the children’s section at the public library. I was the kid who didn’t do her homework but finished novels in a single evening. I was the high schooler who read backstage while everyone else was rehearsing lines or braiding their hair.

There are many jobs that seem simpler, and on my hardest days, I long for them. I often joke that my dream career is to be the receptionist in a dentist’s office. It seems neat and orderly. I wish I had a little desk to decorate and coworkers to make small talk with. I want to be given a task—check this person in—and do the task quickly, and be done with it. I want someone to say “good job” and to give me a Christmas bonus. I want someone else to do my taxes. I do not want to wear slacks, which it seems like dentist’s office receptionists are required to do, but I would make the sacrifice.

On days like this, however, I know that’s just my bruised little ego talking. It’s the exhausted creak in my elbows and my 5 AM alarm clock. I know that what I really want is a job that allows me to spill my heart out onto the page. I want a job that pours hope into those who need it—those middle-grade souls we’ve been entrusted with caring for. I want to play pretend, and I want for it to matter. I want to be a companion for others who feel dreadfully alone.

Most importantly, on a day like today, I’m reminded of the beauty of community. Because I know this is where you’ll start skimming and scrolling, but please know this: if you hadn’t ever bought one of my books, this one wouldn’t be made. Publishing is a business. Yes, it’s a business run by people who love books and literature and hot cups of tea. But it’s a business that needs money to run. If I had released my earlier books to zero fanfare and no sales, I would not have been asked to write this one.

You are why this book exists. You are why I live my dream out every day. Sure, it’s my hard work and my editor Alyssa’s diligence and my agent Alex’s knowledge and my marketing team’s efforts and my sales representative’s tenacity and public school’s supervision of my children and my husband’s support and my librarian’s opinions and my indie bookstore owner’s faith in me. But it’s you who cheers me on every step of the way and gets the book into the hands of kids. It’s you, whether I know your name or not. And I do not want to live a solitary life of slacks and spreadsheets. I want to live a life that depends on the kindness and joy of other people.

Thank you so, so, so much for purchasing Take it From the Top, and know of my gratitude.

How I’ll be celebrating:

• Taking myself to my favorite breakfast spot (the Gingerbread House in Muskego, WI) for a cream cheese croissant and a Bloody Mary

• A little stroll to my local indie to see Eowyn and Jules on their shelves—eek!—and probably buying myself a gift or two or three (don’t read this, K! I know we’re on a book spending freeze!!! I am being a good literary citizen!!!!!!!)

• Not cleaning the kitchen after dinner. I told K that that was really and truly all I wanted—a night off of wiping down the kitchen table. GLAMOUR, baby.

• Booking a babysitter to see Wicked next weekend becuase, guess what? It’s Claire Canon that Nick got Eowyn and Jules tickets to the premiere and they loved it. It has been SO MUCH FUN to have this book come out just before the movie—the hype is contagious, and I’m pretending every Wicked-themed pop up shop or doughnut or Stanley is a Take it From the Top celebration. 😉

What people are saying about Take it From the Top:

"This book left my heart feeling so full. Take It from the Top perfectly captures the magic of summer camp and the joy of musical theater, all while exploring themes of jealousy and life’s inherent unfairness. Ultimately, it is a book about giving others grace—and giving yourself some, too."   — Arianne Costner, author of Confessions of a Class Clown

“Brimming with heart and musical theater fun, Eowyn and Jules’s journey will leave readers cheering for the healing power of friendship.” —Beth Turley, author of The Flyers

"[A] masterful exploration of friendship gone wrong. Evocative worldbuilding brings Lamplighter to life for the intimately developed, well-intentioned characters who often struggle to see other points of view. The well-paced interweaving of multiple summers’ experiences builds tension and shines light on how the past reverberates into the present. Brilliantly executed: a gem that’s a love letter to theater and summer camp." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The vibrant and exceptionally rendered setting makes for a compelling backdrop against which layered character building unravels. Swinarski intersperses Eowyn’s conversational narration with sympathetic third person chapters that cover the events of previous summers, offering context and history to the girls’ relationship." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The clever use of Wicked, with Elphaba and Glinda's story mirroring that of Eowyn and Jules, provides an effective way to share the importance of the arts in telling stories and helping to process real-life issues. A must-read for middle-grade fans looking for realistic friendship stories that tug at the heartstrings." — Booklist

"This is a story about more than theater camp—it’s about how jealousies big and small can wiggle their way into any relationship, the lifelong pain of losing someone you love, and the anxiety of feeling out of place." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Thank you for being here. Love-you-mean-it.

Happy reading,

Claire