“It was a hard time for me,” Elizabeth Atkinson said of being 11 years old. “I was the smallest in my class. I was shy. I felt invisible and was silent. And not good at anything.”
Then she discovered the Judy Blume book, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
“I was astounded there was a book that expressed my thoughts,” Atkinson said. “It was so exciting. It empowered me and changed my life.
“I thought I would love to [write a book like that] someday.”
That’s exactly what Atkinson, 53, (below) of West Newbury, has been doing since 2006.
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Her award-winning “tween” books (elizabethatkinson.com ) are for ages 9 to 12. They include “Alice to Zen and Everyone In Between,” about an unusual friendship between a new girl in town and a peculiar neighborhood boy, and “I, Emma Freke,” about a girl who realizes her name — spoken aloud — has become her identity.
Atkinson has a new book, “The Sugar Mountain Snow Ball,” due out next year, and another will be released in 2016.
“There is so much out there that is full of angst and dark feelings,” said Atkinson, the mother of two grown children. “I try to give kids hope and make them laugh a little at life and themselves.”
Atkinson said her characters may be quirky, “but kids all need and want the same things — to be accepted and have good friendships and feel good about themselves.”
She wants her young readers to know “This is the hardest time of life, but it will get better.”
Atkinson visits libraries and classrooms — some around the country via Skype — and leads creative writing workshops for students.
Wendy Killeen can be reached at wdkilleen@gmail.com.