A middle-grade Bigfoot mystery!
One of the things that bug me the most about seeing neurodiverse characters in books is the storyline is often about struggle and disability. Growing up, as many of you already know, I did not see myself in the pages of book. Identifying with my favorite characters was near impossible, and thus dampened my love for reading when I was younger. I still enjoyed becoming engrossed in stories, but none of those characters ”looked” like me. Although there are many more children’s books with neurodiverse characters today, I still struggle to see myself (and my kiddos) in the characters portrayed. Or worse, the stories are about this poor autistic kid with struggles. Screw that!
I wrote my own characters.
That’s right! I’ve spent the past few years focused on writing fiction—especially middle-grade fiction aimed at readers ages 8-12 years old. Because I have four boys, I tend to write boys as well as girls, but I wanted something different. Neurodiverse characters that populate the page without labels. Most of my main characters live on the spectrum as that is how I see the world, but they are not labeled as such in the stories. They are simply being allowed to be the heroes of their own lives. I want children to see themselves as brilliant and funny and able to save the day—and their own quirky way of doing things as their super power. And I hope other children see their friends and classmates and maybe the geeky kid next door in these stories and realize they are wonderful just the way they are.
Frederick Moody
Frederick Moody and the Secrets of Six Summit Lake is a story about a Bigfoot-obsessed sixth grader who misinterprets social cues and the reason his best friend Cindy stopped speaking to him. And he’s on a mission to win her back. All he needs do (he believes) is prove Bigfoot is real!
When the class bully goes missing, Fred gets his chance. He believes the creatures kidnapped his classmate and he’s collecting clues to make his case. Only—the evidence doesn’t add up and he needs Cindy’s help to solve the mystery and find the crapweasel of a classmate before it’s too late.
The friends have to get along to discover the truth about the wacky mountain town and uncover the darks secrets laying beneath the surface. And—in order to reconcile they must deal with their miscommunications. Fred’s character is very close to my heart. He’s been living and breathing in my head for more than ten years—nicknamed go-go-gadget Fred for reasons you will understand should you ready the story.
So I am so excited to announce that Freddie and Cindy’s adventure is coming to everywhere books are sold in December! I’ve over the moon. But—I want to do more!
Bringing a book to market is like birthing a child in some ways as it takes a village. I’m hoping to donate at least 300 books (or more) to title I schools and libraries but I can’t do it alone. If you’d like to be apart of this effort, join me on Kickstarter to see how many books we can get out into the world together!
Watch the video below for a sneak peek at Freddie’s adventure.
