Long-time College Station resident Kathi Appelt has won countless awards for her writing, including the coveted PEN USA award for Children’s Literature. With over forty titles behind her, it’s clear she’s been writing books for children for a while, but earlier this year, she released her first Young Adult novel, Angel Thieves. 

Young Adult novels are those written specifically for those between the ages of 12 and 18. Angel Thieves grapples with themes of faith, hope, and freedom and the adventures of three unlikely heroes, weaving together three stories from different points in time but in the same location, the Texas Buffalo Bayou. 

Her dream of being an author began when she was a child. Appelt says she has always loved books. “My family was somewhat chaotic, so I found refuge in the pages of books, especially books about horses.” She calls herself a life-long writer and began writing her own stories in second grade upon receiving her first diary from her aunt. Appelt says, “I would pour my heart out in that diary, and the only person who ever read it was me.”

During her time in college, she began writing professionally for magazines and newspapers. She found her sweet spot in writing for children and young adults after her sons were born. Appelt says she loves the process of getting her work published and the discoveries she is able to make along the way. “I have always enjoyed puzzles, and to me, a story is like a giant puzzle. How to make the various bits of it fit together, how to match the parts so that they make sense—I love that.”

Her stories are inspired by aspects of her own life. As an eighth-generation Houstonian, Appelt decided to set Angel Thief in her hometown “as a tribute to the city, to the land of my ancestors, to the wild parts of it as well as the urban parts of it.” 

She hopes readers will enjoy the story, first and foremost, but, “above all, I hope that they’ll hold onto the realization that regardless of the situation, there is always enough love to get us through. There is love enough. Always.”

For more information about Appelt and her writing, please visit http://bit.ly/2Y5XI5e.