As I was writing Ivy Leigh, I didn’t think too much about specific topics or themes, especially at first. I let myself experience Ivy’s story each time a new situation or character cropped up. It’s kind of like sitting on a moving train, stopping at different stations, checking out the view and watching as the people hop on board. Always, I’m seeing it through Ivy’s eyes, throwing her into situations and watching how she responds or reacts.

Isn’t that kind of how we live our lives after all? Of course, we are not passive passengers, we get our chances to mix it up and interact with each other.

But Ivy is a girl that’s grieving, and she can use all the help the world has to offer.

She’s dealing with bullies and boys and friends who are moving forward into young adulthood. How can she handle all this pressure by herself?

The mental health of our tweens and teens is a place where we, like passengers on their train, need to be watchful, but not judgmental, open to the possibilities of how our life experiences can be of help in this, their moment in time. Today, right now.

Ivy needed that. We all need that. Isolationism has caused enormous stress on our social structures. Yes, phones and social media are a part of the problem…maybe even a big part. But lack of engagement is a problem as well.

If you’re heading to the grocery store, or standing in line at Target, why not engage that teen or tween. Ask them a question or just say hi. Even a smile can brighten up their day. Volunteering at the library or visiting a school, engaging a neighbor’s child in a moment of chatting. That is what Mr. Winters does. He’s not nosy. He’s engaged. And Ivy can tell the difference.

Ivy Leigh learns three important lessons—1) how to walk in the shoes of another more troubled than her, 2) that friendships with people of all backgrounds matter, and 3) that guidance can come from anywhere in the community, 4) guidance counselors, social workers and psychologists are not just a last chance kind of thing. They are there always. When I visited a school recently, I asked a group of fifth graders, “Who do you go to when you need help with a big problem, maybe a bully or something like that?”

They called out the obvious, ‘our parents, an older brother or sister, a friend, our teacher, a guidance counselor at school…’ and as their voices trailed off, one brave boy called out, “a therapist!” And I said, “Bingo! You’ve all got this!” But do they? Do they all? I hope they read Ivy’s story and Ivy shows them the way. Because, in life, help is a necessary thing.

It takes a community to raise up a tween entering young adulthood. To us their problems may not seem so serious. But those problems marinate and then later, they can grow and manifest themselves. Ivy Leigh and her cast of quirky neighbors, friends and one special guidance counselor are there to show all kids the way home, back to that safety, to the feeling of being loved and to finding a way out of any problem they might have!

Kids in this tender age learn through the experiences of others, and that is the true beauty of realistic fiction. We can live vicariously through the mistakes of others, and maybe not fall into that trap, make that huge mistake, when it presents itself to us! We can also laugh and celebrate the lives of each other. And be healed by them too.

Being aware that a child is suffering is only the beginning. It’s on all of us to take part in a working solution to that child and perhaps the family as well.