Jolie is bright and gifted. She's also autistic and has ADHD, and middle school was hard on her, day after day. Her grades and her confidence slipped, and our whole family felt it. The world online was loud and afraid, and the news and the forums kept that fear in front of her every day.
We took the screens away. At first it got worse. Taking them away wasn't enough. She needed something good to put in their place.
So I asked Jolie to draw two girls, and I paid her like the real artist she is. Tina and Tilly carry the same worries I had growing up, and the same ones I see in so many girls today. Then our family asked God for help. We found a church and people who walked with us, and slowly we began to heal.
This year we went further. My husband Shane, a published author, our daughter Jolie, and I decided to take a full year to homeschool her and build this together as a real business, not a side project. Jolie draws the girls. Shane and I write the books. She's not a helper on the side. She's a partner in it.
