 He frequently visits schools all over the United States, and sometimes internationally, to talk about his books.Sonnenblick taught 5th grade in Houston, Texas for three years, and 8th grade English at Hackettstown and Phillipsburg Middle Schools in New Jersey for eleven years, before he retired to concentrate on writing books.His first novel, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, was inspired by one of his students, whose brother was battling cancer.