Cleveland County authors use books to bring hope to children in foster care
Jennifer Fredell-Saucier always says coincidence is God’s way of being anonymous.
She said she has had many coincidences throughout her life.
The wife, mother and children’s author teamed up with fellow children’s author, Kim Lewis, and the duo launched a Queen City book blitz tour promoting their books.
“Handpicked, Delaney’s Journey,” is about a little girl in foster care who finds her own family through adoption. Fredell-Saucier, who grew up in Kings Mountain, draws on her life experience as an adopted child and her years working with foster children for her book.
Lewis’s book “The Hats that Laura and Murray Wear!” is based on her son’s love of hats as a little boy, and Lewis has used the platform to talk about her journey to motherhood through IVF. Lewis grew up and currently lives in Kansas. She said she joined the military after high school and ended up in Cleveland County and attended Cleveland Community College where she met Fredell-Saucier, and the two became friends.
Book tour in Cleveland, Gaston counties
The authors kicked off their tour in Kings Mountain at Mauney Memorial Library and spent the day traveling around Gaston and Cleveland counties last week to read their books, talk about their mission and sell their work.
Both women read their books to the small audience gathered in the library and then sold and signed books afterward.
Annie Thombs, Kings Mountain City Council member and mayor pro tem, was in attendance.
“We are so glad you chose us to be the first stop on your launch,” Thombs said.
She said the books are filling a void and will make a difference in the lives of children and their families.
“It’s much needed,” she said.
The two are using the tour as an opportunity to discuss adoption, foster care and IVF, focusing on giving hope to others experiencing the same issues.
Proceeds of the book will go to benefit local children in foster care and to the Tyler Herndon Memorial Foundation.
Herndon’s mom was Fredell-Saucier’s son’s first-grade teacher. Herndon was killed in the line of duty, and the foundation will be giving away scholarships to students going into public service.
Fredell-Saucier said the book reading at Mauney Memorial Library is the launch of their book tour, and they will be doing several big events.
Their Friday tour took them to Trackside Traders and Bohotodara, Red Bridges Barbeque Lodge, Veronet Vineyards and Cleveland County Schools.
They will be partnering with the school system and their new literacy program (PALS) to provide books and help increase the literacy rate for students in the upcoming school year.
Helping to end a stigma
She said when a child is taken from their home, no matter the situation, they rarely want to leave and are usually given a black trash bag and told to throw in a few toys and clothes before they go. Fredell-Saucier said they are partnering with corporate sponsors to provide the children with duffle bags with their names embroidered on them.
Both women are working to end the stigma around adoption, foster care and IVF.
“Ignorance comes from a lack of education,” Fredell-Saucier said. “We’re on a mission to help people. Our goal is to educate, empower, and give hope to children and families.”
In Fredell-Saucier’s book, it follows a little girl in the first grade who is handpicked by a couple to be their daughter.
How to help: How you can help foster families in Cleveland County
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“You are not an accident, you are a miracle,” she is told.
She wants to impart a message to children in similar situations.
“Where they come from does not determine where they’re going,” Fredell-Saucier said. “I want to instill in these children they are special.”
Lewis said her book was inspired by her journey to motherhood through IVF. She said it took nine years for her to get pregnant with her son.
“It was a very difficult decade,” Lewis said. Year after year, negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test, and still no baby.
“It made me question what my future would hold,” Lewis said.
She and her husband were overjoyed to eventually welcome their son Carter.
She wants other families going through infertility to have hope.
When Carter was little, he used to wear all different kinds of things on his head as hats.
“It gave me an idea to write and publish a book,” Lewis said.
“The Hats that Laura and Murray Wear!” about two friends who wear all kinds of hats.
One of the messages of the book is that it's okay to be yourself.
The authors will be donating books to the local elementary schools.
They are planning a national book tour and hope to launch a podcast in the future.
More information on "Handpicked" can be found at delaneysjourney.com.
For more information about "The Hats that Laura and Murray Wear!,: email Kim Lewis at kimlewishomes@gmail.com.
Both books can be found on Amazon, Books-A-Million, Walmart and Target.
Rebecca Sitzes can be reached at rsitzes@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Cleveland County children's authors fight stigma, focus on foster care
