Growing Pains
Kendra's Diaries #1
KP Smith
Growing Pains; Kendras Dairies is the first book in the series chronicling the journey of Kendra Foster from adolescence to adulthood. I aspire to encourage, entertain, and inspire young adults. Life has its ups and downs, its bumps and its bruises. But with perseverance, determination, and faith you can be all you were born to be.
Never Give Up!
As soon as I walked out of the bathroom, the smell of bacon beckoned me to the kitchen. I sat down to a nice plate of golden brown pancakes—the steam was still wafting from them into the air—with a side of bacon fried extra crispy just like I liked it, and orange juice on the rocks. Okay, there was a second plus to my mom taking us to school. If it were my daddy, breakfast would have been a bowl of cereal, and toast, courtesy of Chef Kendra.
"Kendra, have you decided which high schools you are going to apply to?" my mom asked as I was taking my first bite of breakfast.
Oh, and she warmed the syrup! I thought, as the pancakes melted in my mouth. Mom you made my favorite breakfast please let me eat it in peace.
That morning above all others, I didn’t want to engage in any conversation. I wanted to keep my mind clear and focused on the most important matter of the day: cheerleader tryout practice.
"Yes mom, I have been thinking about it." I was hoping that would be enough and she would drop the subject.
She continued, "I know you have your heart set on The Academy, but your daddy and I want to make sure you apply to other schools, just in case you can’t go to The Academy."
I nodded. I glanced at Patrice, who was enjoying her breakfast. Wasn’t there something going on in her life that my mom wanted to discuss with her?
"What does the counselor at school have to say? Have you met with her yet?" It was obvious I was going to have this conversation whether I wanted to or not.
"Yes, I met with Ms. Marina. Yes, she also advised me to keep my options open. We agreed I will apply to other schools, plus The Academy. Yes, I will mail off all the applications soon. I am waiting for my
teachers and Ms. Marina to write their letters of recommendation. Ms. Marina told me that with my good grades, I will definitely get accepted to all of them, and there is a good possibility I will get more than one scholarship offer. Now, can I please just eat?"
"Don’t get smart with me, little girl. We have sacrificed, and with the help of the good Lord, we have been able to pay for you and your sister to attend St. Peter, Paul & Mary. But high school is much more expensive, and without a scholarship we can’t afford it. But we want you and your sister to have the best education possible. You need to be prepared, in case you have to go somewhere other than The Academy. Like Ms. Marina said, you have to keep all of your options open."
It amazed me that my mom never tired of saying the same thing over and over again. Lord knows, I got tired of hearing it. I didn’t live with my head in the sand. Our money problems were no secret. They argued about it all the time.
I know they can’t afford to send me to any of the schools I am applying to, let alone The Academy. I just get tired of being reminded all the time.
Mom, I would love to tell you how hypocritical this sounds. I’d love to point out
how you always say how good God is, and how He answers prayers—how you have to have faith, no matter what, no doubt. "No matter how impossible things seem, you had to keep your faith," you always say.
What I really want is to ask her, "So, where is all that talk now? Can’t I believe God will answer my prayers? Can’t I have some faith and believe that I could go to The Academy? I have been studying and making very good grades for years. Is it so far fetched, too much to ask for, to believe that I will get the scholarship to The Academy? Is that too much to ask for?
"Do you hear me, God? Are you listening?"
As everybody knows by now, I usually only read Paranormal books, but once again I have step out of my genre zone and picked up this book.
While there were some errors in the book that were a little rough around the edges and could have been polished a little bit, I did overlook them, because it is the author's very first book to be released.
The Introduction was wonderful and it sucked me right in and had wanting to read more. The more I read this story the more I came to understand and relate to the story. Not everybody has the perfect family and this story is a reminder of just that. I love how the author talked about the everyday life of a teenager and her troubles she had to overcome. There was a time when I was were this character was, and I wondered if God was really there or real because He never seemed to answer my prayers, and my family life was even worse than this story. There were times where I wanted to cry, get mad, or just flat out laugh out loud. I also loved how the main character had her best friend as her support group to keep her grounded and believed in her.
Overall, this is a great story for the younger teens, ages 11-13. It's set along the mindset of an 8th grader, going into high school and so on. I would highly recommend this story to that age group but also to YA and Adults, just as a reminder how hard life can be for kids, no matter what age they are.
K.P. Smith has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Xavier University in New Orleans, LA. She also has a Masters in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing from Loyola University in Chicago, IL. K.P. Smith has a successful career in the Insurance Industry.
She has been an avid reader since her youth. Writing has always been a passion of hers. She is the author of The Growing Pains Series. The first book in the series titled Growing Pains:Kendra’s Diaries was published in 2012. The second book in the series titled Growing Pains:New Beginnings is scheduled to be released Fall 2012.
K.P. Smith is committed through her writing and interaction with the youth to be a source of encouragement and inspiration.
She currently lives in New Orleans with her two sons.
Contact K.P. Smith at kendrasdiaries@gmail.com for speaking engagements at schools, churches, retreats, youth programs, writers workshops and conferences.
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