Hello dear friends, this blog has been nonexistent because, well, we were finishing homeschool (a fun-ish experiment), and then getting our house ready to show and packing to get ready to move back to Albuquerque which just means mass chaos over here.
But in the midst of all the craziness, I am releasing my second middle grade novel out into the world! Here’s what it’s about:
In the summer of 1945, 11-year-old Lily Wagner’s daddy takes the “Whites Only” sign off the front door of the family grocery store in quiet Mayfield, South Carolina. Lily’s world is turned upside-down: the store is vandalized and she loses her best friend, whose father forbids him from hanging around a—well, the words he uses turns Lily’s stomach.
Hazel Jackson loves school and reading more than anything. She doesn’t think it’s fair that she has to go to work with Ma Maybelle at the white people’s house for the summer. But she knows that the rules for an 11-year-old Black girl are different.
When Lily and Hazel meet, they know they probably can’t be friends. But they forge a connection through books that helps them learn about themselves and the world around them, including hard truths of the Jim Crow South.
Fans of The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes and Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper will love the story of Lily and Hazel as they stand up to racism in their small town.
I also received a really great review from Kirkus, which you can read here. I am told by my publisher and librarian friends that this is a big deal, and I’m really grateful!
We created a journal companion for this one called Pen in Hand that also releases tomorrow, and I’m so excited about it—especially for young writers. It gives them a place to store ideas and work through the process of creating their own stories.
They are both available to order now from wherever you buy books, see links below for Amazon and Bookshop.org if you want to support your indie!
And as always, thank you a million times over for all your support along the way!
Katie Proctor 
Can’t wait to get the book in my hands! I will enjoy reading the final version and seeing the surprises in store!! 😍
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So happy to read this! Congratulations! Looking forward to reading it
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Have you read Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison? If not, please do! Anxious to read book #2!! ❣️
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