Hi and hello! My name is Kristin, and I write because I have an itch in my brain that is only ever scratched when I write. I write because otherwise the stories would bottle up and explode out of me.
I write MG, YA, & NA currently. Usually contemporary.
Non-writing hobbies include going out for coffee and collecting fuzzy socks (and reading, of course!).
Sometimes, in the name of love and science, you have to do what you
have to do; sometimes that means finding a cure for cancer to save
your sick teacher.
Astrid Oliver is determined to become an astronaut, and she’s not
going to let anything stop her—especially not that comic drawing boy
next door! Studious and devoted, when news of the sixth-grade science
fair reaches her, she begins designing the ultimate rocket with the
help of her single-mom, Gretchen.
When Astrid’s science teacher, Miss Applebaum’s, cancer comes out of
remission, everything changes. She decides that she will come up with
a cure for cancer, and reluctantly joins forces with the boy next
door—Remi Westing. While they pour over medical books much beyond
their years, they also struggle to cope with the difficulties that
come from living in the worst neighborhood in town, of Remi’s parents
constantly fighting and his fears they will get a divorce, and of
their favorite teacher’s rapidly progressing illness. To top it all
off, the Votum comet is set to pass over the sky soon, and Astrid
wants to make sure Miss Applebaum will be around to finally see it.
A CURE FOR SADNESS is a contemporary middle grades novel complete at
47,500 words that tells a story of friendship, of the realities of
poverty, of the power of science, and of two children who learn that
even though they are strong enough on their own, the right people can
help make them stronger. Readers of THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH and
PLANET EARTH IS BLUE will enjoy this high-concept, commercial, and
strong-voiced story of what can happen when you dare to make a friend.
Chapter One: Rocket 18-3
Astrid:
The rocket takes off before I even sit it down.
“Oh, geez,” I moan, smacking the palm of my hand against my forehead, “not again.”
Horror-stricken, I watch as it loop-di-loops in squiggly spirals in the air. It glides over my backyard and then plummets downward over the neighbor’s fence, hitting against their grass with a dull ka-thunk.
It had seemed like a good one too! This time I had double-checked the baking soda proportions in mom’s measuring cup and had even cross-referenced the ratios with articles from Edheads and Teachers TryScience.
NASA will be calling you soon, Astrid Oliver, I had thought only moments ago. It’s only a matter of time.
Left-over vinegar bubbles up in the grass from the spot my rocket had been, and the smell makes my nose wrinkle.
Obviously not!
“Rocket 18-3 has failed,” I speak into my iPad, watching as the little red lines of my voice rise and fall when I speak them into the VoiceMemos app, “Maybe next time try mom’s apple cider vinegar?”
The evening sky is a deepening purple, but it is not so dark that I cannot see; there is still enough light for me to make some modifications and try again, except for the irritating fact that I do not have my rocket, and I am out of plastic bottles, and last night mom had said, “Lord help me, Eleanor, if I have to buy any more cases of water this week! You’re gonna make me go broke!”
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