I could not be more humbled or excited to share that I have a book coming out later this year, on September 20, 2022. This beautiful cover art was posted today on one of my favorite websites of all time, The Nerdy Book Club. It is by the gifted artist and illustrator, Diana Sudyka, and I can’t stop staring at it.
Part of me keeps looking at the words ‘by C.C.Harrington’ and wondering who that person is, because I don’t think it could be me. And it’s not me. At least, not only me. What it ought to say is Wildoak by… a whole amazing team of people at Scholastic Press who have all come together to create this particular book and share it with young readers. An amazing team at Scholastic in addition to so many equally amazing people who have supported my writing over the years - my family, my friends, critique partners and expert readers, my magical agent, all of whom read countless early drafts with patience, generosity and immense care. I thank each and every one of them for helping Wildoak get to this stage.
On one level it is a story about three different threads: an abandoned snow leopard, a child who stutters when she speaks to humans but not to animals, and an endangered forest. But in other ways it’s a book about the nuanced and varied nature of understanding. How we communicate with one another as human beings, the limitations of language as we know it and what it means to understand with empathy and compassion - to understand ourselves as unique individuals, one another in all of our differences and ultimately our shared place on this fragile and beautiful planet.
September is still a long way away, but it will soon be possible to pre-order a copy in the US through your local independent book store or online. Yay! (I can’t believe I’m even typing this.)
In the meantime, when I think about what went into the writing of this book, there are several organizations that are very close to my heart. If you have a minute I really hope you enjoy learning about each of them:
Panthera - www.panthera.org
SAY - The Stuttering Association for the Young
The Stuttering Foundation - official website
The Jane Goodall Institute - official website
And please take a peek at these too if you are not already familiar with either of them.
Scholastic - About
Diana Sudyka Fine Art - official website
Whoever you might be, thanks so much for reading this. And if you’re a writer who is struggling to continue on with your work, I know that sometimes it’s inspiring to hear about others who are at different stages, but sometimes it can feel daunting. Not long ago I wrote a post called How to keep going. Whether your work finds its way into the world or not, now or ever, I say to you what I’ve said to myself for many years and will continue to say: Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Even when it feels impossible. Keep going.