Social studies teacher Jodie Lee began writing a book series aimed towards younger students. She titled the series Different at School, and plans on writing books about various conditions that may affect students physically or cognitively.
Her first book was titled Makenna’s Brave Start. The main character is Lee’s daughter, Makenna, who was diagnosed with alopecia at 18 months old. Alopecia is a medical condition that causes the loss of hair on Makenna’s head, which makes her nervous about attending school.
After the book was published, Lee spoke to Rockwood in an article about how her daughter inspired the story.
To help Makenna, Lee wanted to find a book that would teach her peers not only about her alopecia, but also who she is as a person; however, she was unable to find a book that fit the bill.
“[Other books] told the story of alopecia often in a fairytale way. I didn’t think that alopecia is the most important part of her story. The most important part of her story is her,” Lee said.
Lee decided to write her own book, fictitious in its plot, but true in its depiction of Makenna. Lee is currently working on more books in the series that feature other characters. One of her upcoming books introduces a child with autism.
“I talked with a few parents that have kids with autism and just [asked], ‘What do you want? If you had to go talk to their class on the first day of school, what do you want all of their new classmates to understand about them?’” Lee said.
Lee believes that everyone should be celebrated for what makes them different from others and she wants to help kids understand that not everyone looks the same.
“Different shouldn’t be a bad word. ‘Oh, you’re different.’ Thank you, I’m not just like everybody else. I’m my own person. I’ve embraced my uniqueness and I’m celebrating what makes me special,” she said.
Lee has completed writing four books and is working on the fifth. Two of these books, Jane Leads at Lunch and Tommy Speaks Up are ready to be published as late as Oct. 9.
She currently does not have her books in stores or libraries, but she would like to do so in the future. For now her book is printed by and available on Amazon.
