Kickstarter

When she was 5 years old, Leslye’s dad retired from the military. After her parents divorced, she and her mom stayed in the area because of her mom's  job as a professor at an area university.  As a military dependent, Leslye still goes on base to take dance classes, to see the doctor or go to the commissary , but  there’s one big difference between Leslye and her friends whose parents are stationed at Langley or Ft. Eustis, or Ft.Monroe or Norfolk Navel or Yorktown Weapon: Her friends come and go. She stays put. She used to  joke about it. (“I’m a military kid, but not really. Just call me Base-Les.”)

Now that she’s 10, after one best friend moved to Hawaii in 2nd grade, the next to California at the end of 3rd, the next to Florida at the end of 4th… she’s decided no more military kids for friends.  And this includes the new girl, Emily.  She had really liked her, too. That is, until she saw the girl’s mom pick her up from school wearing that tan khaki outfit, a navy officer's uniform. And it’s a shame, too, because she has the same backpack as Les. The same cool green Disney Princess Kiara with satin wasteband backpack, and wears it with pride just like she does.

Not liking Emily has been especially hard because Emily was absolutely unavoidable. They were both in afterschool. Emily was even in the Asthma Brigade-- the kids the nurse summons before PE for the shot of the inhaler! Leslye soon realized she was going to have to walk everywhere in awkward silence pretending  Emily doesn’t exist  most of the day because she was NOT breaking her new rule. No more military kid friends! ...Too bad, Leslye thought.  That Emily was otherwise perfect best friend material.

Through the lens of girls who also happen to be military dependents, this novel is the first in a series targeting girls 9-11 that explores military life, female military leadership, change, multiculturalism, entrepreneurship, geography and history.  In the Synchronous Orbit series, readers will travel the world with Les and her friends. Through the bases their families are assigned and the communities of which they become a part, the girls learn resilience, define community and gain a sense of adventure.