Sometimes a project needs to gestate for while. Sometimes it needs to be forgotten about or torn up, then made anew. And sometimes, it feels ready. Willing itself to be alive.
All of those things apply to this new book (launching here), which has had a long and circuitous journey, as I shared in the last post. Whether despite or because of that long road, I could not be more excited about where it is now. Case in point, check out this awesome cover design from comic book artist Rye Hickman:
Every time I look at this, I get more fired up for what this book can offer. 50 challenges, designed for middle school students, tested by kids all over the world, all the way up to the “final boss” challenge of my own middle-school daughter editing it with characteristic bluntness. Trust me, only the very best challenges survived.
These challenges are designed to get kids into the world. To help them discover how capable they are. They’ll find challenges like starting a microbusiness, sleeping under the stars, beginning a journal, or learning how to repair a broken friendship.
And unlike my first book, which was written to help us — the parents and educators — guide kids through the whitewater rapids of middle school, this book is written for middle schoolers themselves. It has a choose-your-own-adventure spirit. Middle schoolers can open it in the middle, jump around, ignore some challenges, and then somewhere in there, got hooked by one that seems exciting. Maybe just beyond what they thought they could do.
If you’re feeling excited for this too, then I have a request for you: let’s get this book-baby into the world! I would love your help by pledging and/or sharing the Kickstarter with friends, posting to social media, parents groups, educator groups, wherever there are people who think middle schoolers are cooler than the reputation they’ve been given.
My aim is to raise $15,000, which gives the book a professional team I’ve already chosen, from a fantastic editor who has worked with extraordinary authors we’ve all heard of, to the layout designer who designed my first book, the illustrator, printer, and more. Are you with me? Let’s make this happen! Let’s change the story of middle school, one adventure at a time.
Support & Pledge Here: Challenge Accepted on Kickstarter