Middle Grade Ninja Episode 145: Author Emily Barth Isler

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Emily Barth Isler and I discuss her childhood as an actress featured on ONE LIFE TO LIVE and elsewhere as well as performing for the Clinton White House, and how she eventually transitioned to the family business of writing, the “safe career choice.” We also talk about her new novel, AFTERMATH, how to process trauma through writing, how to take action on school shootings, how to set goals for your fiction to become a more effective author, and so much more.

Emily Barth Isler lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their two kids. A former child actress, she performed all over the world in theatre, film, and TV. In addition to books, Emily writes about sustainable, eco-friendly beauty and skincare, and has also written web sitcoms, parenting columns, and personal essays. She has a B.A. in Film Studies from Wesleyan University, and really, really loves television. Find her at www.emilybarthisler.com

"This book is a gift to the culture." ―Amy Schumer, writer, actor, and activist

After her brother's death from a congenital heart defect, twelve-year-old Lucy is not prepared to be the new kid at school―especially in a grade full of survivors of a shooting that happened four years ago. Without the shared past that both unites and divides her classmates, Lucy feels isolated and unable to share her family's own loss, which is profoundly different from the trauma of her peers.

Lucy clings to her love of math, which provides the absolute answers she craves. But through budding friendships and an after-school mime class, Lucy discovers that while grief can take many shapes and sadness may feel infinite, love is just as powerful.

EmilyBarthIsler.com