Books

Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl's Brave Fight to Walk

Scholastic, October 2019

Based on a true story, Rebeka Uwitonze left her family and came to America for surgery on her club feet at age nine. After thirty-one casts and fifty-eight hospital visits, Rebeka returned to her family in Rwanda walking on her own two feet, a different girl inside and out.

 

“…the authors sensitively convey Uwitonze’s wealth of strength through adversity and the familial love…that helped her navigate her experience.”

– Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

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The Minor Miracle

Stay tuned for the cover . . . but this is a great placeholder as a giant robot slide just like this is in The Minor Miracle, coming out from WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin/Random House, in summer of 2024, with a second book following in 2025. The Minor Miracle centers on 12-year-old Noah Minor who, the night before the Macy’s Day Parade, mysteriously survived a sixteen-story fall as a baby and years later learns he can manipulate gravity during a standard vision test. As he uses and abuses his powers, he’ll have to choose who to trust: Gravitas, a secret government agency, or their most wanted, who happens to be his uncle.

The story behind the story is that I first met my editor, Bunmi Ishola, in Rwanda while doing research for Her Own Two Feet. She was a teacher at the time, and is acknowledged at the end of that book for her help reading an early version and providing valuable feedback. A few years later, Bunmi moved into publishing. I worked on several manuscript after Her Own Two Feet sold, and I was thrilled to reconnect with her when The Minor Miracle sold to Waterbrook! It is another book with heart and a strong character. I can’t wait for you all to meet Noah Minor.

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