My audience for Growing Together is students ages 5-18 dealing with different hardships in their personal life growing up.

Growing Together perfectly fits the theme of "Breaking Boundaries" by breaking the stigma around topics that are normally frowned upon and are viewed in a bad light. With my book series I will be able start a new conversation about hardships and make an impact. A teen's voice is different than an adult or professional -- and I am to use that advantage for good, helping kids be there best selves when they really need help.

Children face many hardships at home including: divorce, economic status, and dealing with a parent who has struggled with drug & alcohol abuse. These children may form social and mental problems along the way in these situations. According to childtrends.org, "of the 268,212 children under age 18 removed from their families in 2017, 96,400 (36 percent) had parental drug abuse listed as a reason for their removal."

Although my book series will be based on some events from my personal life, I want to have background knowledge into these topics to make my advice and experience more credible. Linked below is my active research document where I am putting valuable sources to help me with my writing, credibility in different topics, along with some of my other completion in this field. You can also find my research document in the "Written Documentation" tab.

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Being raised in a society where everyone is 'perfect' is hard, especially when you know your life is far from perfect. Growing Together is a children-to-teen book series that breaks the boundaries of topics that are shied away from all too often.
This book series, inspired by the author's childhood, will be differentiated for elementary, middle, and high school audiences.
Growing Together gives kids an outlet to know that they aren't alone, and that there is a way to cope and build a better life. No matter your age, Growing Together is the book that you can relate to.
Project Deliverables will include a series of three published books (elementary, middle, and high school levels), information on developmental stages, statistics for children dealing with hardships, & hand-out versions of some chapters. There will also be a huge community outreach portion where the books will be shared with live audiences.

The inspiration behind my Capstone project is that I love to write and I have experienced hardships like divorce, eviction and being homeless, along with drug/alcohol abuse in a parent. Growing up, I didn't have a strong outlet to go to to help me feel better -- and I did feel alone. After some time, I learned how to grow and make the best out of any situation. I want kids to feel like they have the resources to be successful and not dwell on the past, rather, making it a positive experience.

With my project I hope to unite people dealing with similar situations and create a sense of peace. Being told you are not alone is one thing -- but seeing that you aren't alone, well, that's a whole new experience.