Join South Orange resident Melanie Conklin at Words Bookstore in Maplewood on April 21 from 6-8 p.m. for the local launch party for her book Counting Thyme.
The novel centers on a young girl whose family moves to New York City for her little brother’s cancer treatment, which means she has to leave behind everything she knows and loves, and her struggle to find her place in a time of such family turmoil while experiencing all the ups and downs of sixth grade.
To date, Counting Thyme has received glowing trade reviews and endorsements. Publishers Weekly writes, “Conklin successfully weaves together the shifting dynamics of a loving family under crisis with the less dramatic but equally heartfelt turmoil of coming of age in a new environment.”
The April 21 event will take place downstairs in the Words Bookstore event space. Copies of Counting Thyme will be available for purchase and signing and, according to Conklin, there will be “plenty of snacks to nosh.”
Because the novel reflects the realities of pediatric cancer, Conklin has partnered with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a global non-profit that funds pediatric cancer research that is very active in Maplewood-South Orange. (Read more about Conklin’s connection with Cookies for Kids’ Cancer here.) Bake sale items from Cookies for Kids’ Cancer will be available for sale at the Words event to raise funds to support pediatric cancer research.
Conklin grew up in North Carolina and worked as a product designer for ten years before moving to New York, where she began to write. Counting Thyme is her debut novel. Conklin lives in South Orange with her husband and two small children. When she’s not writing, she spends her time doodling and dreaming up new ways to be creative. Connect with Melanie at melanieconklin.com or on twitter at @MLConklin.
