Hope, Released Into the World

What it means to tend to hope in uncertain times.

****After the Black History Month we just survived (ugh), I am asking you for two small acts of support for your guy Fred. 1. Read this whole email. 2. Consider supporting Black books.****

Today, my picture book, Planting Hope enters the world.

The title itself was very intentional to say plainly. Because in a moment when so much feels uncertain, releasing a book about hope doesn’t feel sentimental. It feels necessary.

Planting Hope is a picture book about a young boy named Henry who learns to garden alongside his mother. He struggles at first. His plant does not grow the way he wants it to. He watches others succeed and begins to doubt himself. His mother teaches him that plants need more than water and sunlight. They need patience. They need care. They need belief in growth before it’s visible.

When his mother becomes ill and her own future feels uncertain, that lesson of care becomes something deeper. The garden becomes a space where Henry learns that hope is not pretending everything is fine. Hope is choosing to tend to what you love even when outcomes are unclear.

This is a story about family, community, and resilience. While it’s for children, I also believe it’s for the adults reading beside them. It’s about how growth happens slowly. About how healing takes time. About how love is something we practice.

And it’s available today. You can order here.

If you believe children deserve stories that center emotional honesty and tenderness, I hope you will buy Planting Hope now. Gift it. Bring it into classrooms. Request it at your local library. Early support shapes how far a book travels. It influences how many copies are printed, where it is placed in stores, and how visible it remains in the weeks ahead.

You can also consider donating a copy to The Lisa Libraries, which distributes books to hospitals, schools, and other spaces for children:

The Lisa Libraries
Ellen Luksberg, Executive Director
77 Cornell Street, Room 109
Kingston, NY 12401

But that’s not all folks!!!

I have another story coming that continues this conversation about hope in a different register.

Everything’s Not Lost is a young adult novel about Ella Washington, a sixteen year old Black girl living with bipolar disorder who is trying to find her footing after the unexpected death of her sister. The world around her continues moving. School expectations continue. Relationships continue. But internally she feels suspended between memory and forward motion.

The novel follows Ella as she navigates grief, survivor’s guilt, complicated friendships, family strain, and the difficult work of allowing community to support her. It’s about the courage required to remain present in your life when pain makes retreat feel easier. The novel doesn’t offer easy healing. It offers honest healing.

It’s available now for preorder here.

If Planting Hope teaches children how to nurture something fragile, Everything’s Not Lost asks what it takes to rise when you feel submerged.

Preorders for this novel matter deeply. Preorders influence print runs, marketing support, bookstore placement, and long term visibility. They tell publishers and retailers that a story centered on grief, mental health, community, and resilience deserves investment and space.

If you want stories about healing to reach the young people who need them, the most direct way to make that happen is to support them early.

So today I am asking two things. Buy Planting Hope. Celebrate its release. Help it travel. And preorder Everything’s Not Lost. Help ensure it arrives with the strength and visibility it deserves.

Hope is not passive.

It grows because we choose to tend it.