I'm Rafi Mittlefehldt, and I'm a young adult author. This is where you can find out all sorts of things about me, my books, events, future novels, that sort of thing.

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Things about me:

• I live in Philly with my husband Damien and our dog Betty. Damien and Betty are native New Yorkers, but I was born in Israel and grew up in Texas.

• Rafi is short for Rafael.

• It was supposed to be Raphael but Dad forgot which spelling he and Mom wanted when he filled out the birth certificate.

• I can make balloon animals.

• I'm a Baron in the Principality of Sealand and a Reverend with the Universal Life Church. I’ll take any honorific title I can get for free.

• My name is green and yellow according to my color alphabet.

• I'm a Ravenclaw but feeling more and more Hufflepuff lately.

• I used to be a reporter for a small town newspaper in Georgetown, Texas. Once I wrote an article about people in town who shared names with famous people. There was a Woodrow Wilson and four Charlie Browns.

What Makes Us.  Oct. 15, 2019. Candlewick Press.

A viral video reveals a teen’s dark family history, leaving him to reckon with his heritage, legacy, and identity in this fiery, conversation-starting novel.

Eran Sharon knows nothing of his father except that he left when Eran was a baby. Now a senior in high school and living with his protective but tight-lipped mother, Eran is a passionate young man deeply interested in social justice and equality.

When he learns that the Houston police have launched a program to increase traffic stops, Eran organizes a peaceful protest. But a heated moment at the protest goes viral, and a reporter connects the Sharon family to a tragedy fifteen years earlier — and asks if Eran is anything like his father, a supposed terrorist. Soon enough, Eran is wondering the same thing, especially when the people he’s gone to school and temple with for years start to look at him differently.

Timely, powerful, and full of nuance, Rafi Mittlefehldt’s sophomore novel confronts the prejudices, fears, and strengths of family and community, striking right to the heart of what makes us who we are.

This gorgeous cover, and the one below, were both designed by Matt Roeser.

It Looks Like This.  Sept. 6, 2016. Candlewick Press.

A new state, a new city, a new high school. Mike’s father has already found a new evangelical church for the family to attend, even if Mike and his plainspoken little sister, Toby, don’t want to go. Dad wants Mike to ditch art for sports, to toughen up, but there’s something uneasy behind his demands.

Then Mike meets Sean, the new kid, and “hey” becomes games of basketball, partnering on a French project, hanging out after school. A night at the beach. The fierce colors of sunrise. But Mike’s father is always watching. And so is Victor from school, cell phone in hand.

In guarded, Carveresque prose that propels you forward with a sense of stomach-dropping inevitability, Rafi Mittlefehldt tells a wrenching tale of first love and loss that exposes the undercurrents of a tidy suburban world. Heartbreaking and ultimately life-affirming, It Looks Like This is a novel of love and family and forgiveness — of others and especially of yourself.

It Looks Like This is a gay coming-of-age novel. It means a whole lot to me, and I feel incredibly lucky that it's my debut.

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association: Fall Conference

Thursday, October 17. Cherry Hill, NJ.

The NAIBA Fall Conference is an opportunity for member booksellers to network and learn about new books, authors, and ideas. I’ll be one of nine authors during the Movable Feast portion of the conference. This event is open to registrants only.

Texas Book Festival

October 26-27. Austin, TX.

The Texas Book Festival is a free, two-day literary festival held near the Texas State Capitol, in the heart of Austin. It’s open to the public and plenty of fun. I’ll be there Saturday, October 26, for a YA panel on the theme of social justice.

American Association of School Librarians: National Conference

November 14-16. Louisville, KY.

Held every two years, the AASL National Conference & Exhibition caters to the needs of school librarians. I’ll be on a YA panel on the topic of social justice. This event is open to registrants only.