“I never understood why my family was ‘different’” is a statement that Charlotte Clyve would use to sum up her childhood. Clyve grew up in a blended family, with her two moms, dad, and three siblings all playing pivotal roles in her life. Being brought up in a town where the typical image of an American family—mom, dad, and their children—was the norm, Clyve became increasingly frustrated at the lack of blended family representation in the media. So, when the opportunity for her to create this representation arised, she took full advantage.

       

        Back in January, Clyve was taking Leadership Development with Mr. Gordy. As the final activity for the class, she was instructed to create a capstone project with the only requirement being that it had to be “intrinsically motivating”. Charlotte shared she thought about what makes her unique, and it didn’t take long for her to settle on something: her family. It was then she began on the journey of writing, illustrating, and publishing her children’s book, Hearts Bigger Than a Box.

 

        The title of the book came from an interaction Clyve had in elementary school, when her class did an activity placing their family members into boxes on paper. Charlotte’s family didn’t fit into these boxes; the experience was a formative one for her. Her book focuses on characters based on her and her siblings, and the theme of “discovering the importance of love in a family rather than structure”. “Society doesn’t shed light on these types of families often…I wanted to tackle that and provide more representation of what makes a family: love.”

       

        Clyve self-published the book, but the process wasn’t easy. “Publishing was probably the hardest step of the process because I wanted to self publish. I had to be careful because there are a lot of scam companies out there.” She ended up going with BookBaby, a self-publishing service based out of New Jersey. Clyve claimed that it was the company she “felt most secure with”. After an arduous process, she is excited to share that Hearts Bigger Than a Box will be available everywhere you can find books on May 5th.

 

        Clyve, a pillar of the community, volleyball player, performer, reader, and friend, is set to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst next year. She plans to double major in finance and political science and minor in history. While her majors “aren’t very creative”, she is excited to delve into the “great entrepreneurial opportunities” that the university offers.

 

        When asked if she would be interested in publishing another children’s book, Charlotte originally had been answering the question with a simple “no”. Yet, as she’s been out and about promoting the book through storytimes in the local elementary schools, she has been reconsidering this. “The fact that kids have been saying they want to hear more makes me think in the future it could be possible to do it again.” While Clyve isn’t quite sure what the future holds for her, one thing is for certain: she will never stop fighting for blended family representation.