Karol Ruth Silverstein (she/her/disabled) is an award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter. She’s been an active member of the SCBWI for over 20 years and has identified as disabled since the age of 21.
Karol’s debut young adult novel, Cursed (Charlesbridge Teen), was loosely drawn from her experience of being diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at thirteen. A funny, frank, and unsentimental take on the “sick kid” genre, Cursed won the prestigious Schneider Family Book Award in 2020.
Karol's stories tend to champion misfits, underdogs and that weird kid nobody wanted to sit next to in the school cafeteria. Spoiler alert: she qualifies as all of the above. Originally from Philadelphia, Karol now lives in West Hollywood with her incredibly fluffy cats, Ninja and Boo.
Twitter: @KRSilverstein
Instagram: @KRSilverstein2019
Facebook: @AuthorKarolRuthSilverstein
Website: www.karolruthsilverstein.com
STUCK! (HELP, PLEASE!)
(Charlesbridge, Oct 2022)
Rights: rights@charlesbridge.com
Little Ferret is having a frustrating day at the playground. A tricky zipper, a sticky slide, a very scary bridge—he wants to do it himself, but he keeps getting stuck! Grandma Ferret gently reminds him to take a deep breath, calm down, and try again. He can do it—and he can even help others, too!
CURSED
(Charlesbridge Teen, June 2019)
2020 Schneider Family Book Award winner
Rights: rights@charlesbridge.com
As if her parents’ divorce and sister’s departure for college weren’t bad enough, fourteen-year-old Ricky Bloom has just been diagnosed with a life-changing chronic illness. Her days consist of cursing everyone out, skipping school–which has become a nightmare–daydreaming about her crush, Julio, and trying to keep her parents from realizing just how bad things are. But she can’t keep her ruse up forever.
Ricky’s afraid, angry, alone, and one suspension away from repeating ninth grade when she realizes: she can’t be held back. She’ll do whatever it takes to move forward–even if it means changing the person she’s become. Lured out of her funk by a quirky classmate, Oliver, who’s been there too, Ricky’s porcupine exterior begins to shed some spines. Maybe asking for help isn’t the worst thing in the world. Maybe accepting circumstances doesn’t mean giving up.