“I head out the back door and down to the second-to-the-bottom step where I sit and lace up my matching-to-my-outfit blue, gym shoe roller skates. Looking up at the blue skies, I just know it’s going to be an amazing day.”

Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the 70s, Karen lives a charmed and spunky life right out of the gate. Leading her friends and neighbors on real-time adventures, she bravely and hilariously plows through life on her groovy lace-up roller skates. Always on the lookout for fun, her energy and delight invite anyone and everyone to experience joy along the way…until a crack in the foundation threatens to crumble her vivacious spirit.

Suddenly, life isn’t all that it seems, and under the weight of silence and secrecy, Karen’s carefree outlook erodes. Her coming of age takes an abrupt and unexpected detour as cancer becomes her mom’s constant companion. While Karen pours herself into everything high school offers in order to numb the pain and fill the void, she soon finds that moxie and mayhem often co-mingle. Will Karen’s moxie be buried with her mom or will it rise again? Grow up with Karen and be enveloped in her moxie-filled adventures.

Karen Brothers is a writer, editor, and storyteller, born and raised in Oak Park, mere blocks from Chicago. She spent her career creating and developing projects with VeggieTales and The Action Bible, and loves time with her three adult daughters and on the pickleball court. Karen and her husband live in Charlotte, NC.