The STEAM Chasers and the Blackness of Space

The Beauty of the STEAM Chasers Series!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Dec 15, 2019 at 05:28:19 PM

One of the things I am so honored by is the fact that The STEAM Chasers helps to fill a much needed gap in children's literature. What do I mean by that? According to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, of the 3,653 published in the United States in 2018, just 388 of those books were about African or African American children. Of those 388 books, just 192 by African or African American authors. The lowest amount of those diverse books were in the middle grade genre, a time when self discover and finding one's place in the world is so critical. 

Because of your amazing support, The STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space gets to address those statistics! We get to add to the books available in the world today that represent children normally underrepresented in children's literature, particularly middle grade fiction. We also get to help fill the gap of underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math as well as offer an unique way to learn about African American history - an important component of American history.

Would you like to know what I am most proud of? Getting an opportunity to share The STEAM Chasers with you! I recently completed my edits before sending the STEAM Chasers to produce my author copy (where final edits will take place). I am so happy with this book for so many reasons. The first is that there is more of the STEAM Chasers to enjoy! This book is almost 10,000 more words than our first book. This means readers get to spend more time getting to know Shar, Terrence, Ebony, Akiya, Marcus, and Chase. We also profile more individuals in the STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space; twenty amazing individuals are highlighted in this book! Finally, the STEAM Chasers swag that is available to your here on Kickstarter is amazing! Not only our STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space book, but also our high quality duffle bag that is great for everything from weekend trips to a place for keeping your (hopefully growing) collection of STEAM Chasers novels. We have great wristbands, pens, pencils, and more. These items will truly help the young person in your life get excited about becoming a STEAM Chaser! 

I truly appreciate every single one of you that is supporting this project. It would not be possible without you. I have gotten outstanding feedback from beta readers on this book and I cannot wait to share it with each of you. Remember, the STEAM Chasers is more than a message, it is a movement. Welcome to the STEAM Chasers family! I truly appreciate you all and will be working hard to make you proud and provide you with wonderful book. 

Full STEAM Ahead!

Sincerely,

Doresa

We Met Our Initial Funding Goal!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Dec 06, 2019 at 09:41:51 AM

I wanted to give a huge, "THANK YOU!" to everyone who has supported the campaign so far. Because of your support, this Kickstarter campaign is funded. Words cannot express just how humbled I am by your support. Thank you for believing in me and believing in this book series.

I also know there is so much that we can do with additional support. So, we are going to continue pushing ahead! Why does going beyond our initial funding goal matter?

1. Our initial funding goal was to ensure that The STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space would be able be able to come to fruition in print and digital formats. We crossed that hurdle and it feels AMAZING. However, we also knew there was more wanted to do with this book. That leads us to our next point.

2. With just a bit more support, we can ensure The STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space will be available in audio format as well! This will allow The STEAM Chasers to be accessible to readers with dyslexia, those with vision issues, and still others who primarily access books through 'ear reading' rather than 'eye reading'. Having an audiobook would be particularly important for this story, which explores Ebony's journey with dyslexia. 

3. Raising even more funds will allow us to produce educational materials to supplement the books, so they can be more easily integrated into classrooms. The STEAM Chasers is all about inspiring middle grade readers to learn more, and having resources in place to help them on that journey is a huge part of that mission. Remember, The STEAM Chasers is more than a message, it is a movement. 

I'm going to continue to push this campaign forward, and I hope that you will join me. 

P.S. The book is back from my final beta reader/content editor! That means in about a week, I will be submitting the book to our initial publishing platform to recieve what is known as the "proof copy". The proof copy is where we will review the book again for any lingering edits required, see how the book looks on the page, and make sure we are ready for launch. Again, this would NOT have been possible without your support. Thank you for being a part of The STEAM Chasers family!

Full STEAM Ahead!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennings

Meet the STEAM Chasers!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Nov 24, 2019 at 05:38:40 AM

Shar is amazingly brave, witty, and the first to defend her friends. She has a particular interest in chemistry and can be found conducting all kinds of experiments in her kitchen. Shar is known for saying out loud what we are all thinking! She speaks her mind, but she is also willing to learn from others. She also loves baking for one very special reason, her little brother. He has a food allergy and a family friend once made a food substitution they assumed would be safe for him to eat. It wasn't and he ended up in the hospital. Since then, Shar has spent time learning about ingredients and chemical reactions, with the result being the most delicious treats any of her friends or family have ever tasted. Those treats being allergy free is just the icing on the cake! Shar demonstrates for young readers the essence of science - to help us to not only understand our world, but to solve problems in our everyday lives. 

Ebony is a deep thinker who loves to keep her eyes to the sky. Since she was a little girl and saw the Big Dipper constellation shining brightly in the sky for the first time, she has wanted to learn more. There is always a telescope in the biggest window in both her bedrooms. Why two bedrooms? Her parents do everything they can to ensure their divorce doesn't negatively impact her everyday life. Her parents share 50/50 custody, and now - no matter where Ebony places her head at night, it always feels like home. When Ebony isn't star gazing, she is out in fields launching rockets. She is always seeking to send rockets higher and bring them down with ease, and she dreams one day to lead the design and development team for a spacecraft that will let us see even further in our Milky Way galaxy, and maybe even beyond than that! Ebony loves teaching her friends about the universe in which they live, and she will help to introduce readers to that same universe. Despite the common saying, Ebony is always there letting us know that sometimes - it really is rocket science! Ebony has a particularly beautiful journey in this book as she goes from having dyslexia, to proudly being dyslexic.

Akiya is a sensitive soul who has the uncanny ability to help everyone feel as if they belong. This may be because she comes from such a large family herself, and knows the importance of feeling like you are special in your own unique way. One of the ways she accomplishes this is by studying geography and learning about the lives of other people. She has taken it upon herself to learn greetings in over twenty languages, just in case a new student shows up at school who might have a first language that isn't English. What better way to show people you care about them than to be able to welcome them in ways that are easiest for them to understand? Akiya is also a prolific reader with an amazing memory. In fact, she can remember almost everything she has ever read. That means if you need an answer, Akiya just might have it for you. Her friends joke that when Google and Siri don't know the answer, they secretly contact Akiya! Her uncanny ability to explain things in a way that anyone can understand means that most of the harder concepts that are covered in the books include an explanation from Akiya, bringing it to a level that any middle grade reader can understand. 

Marcus earns his nickname of the Lightning pretty much every day. He is quick thinking with an imagination that lights up even the darkest situation. He is ambitious and doesn't take no for an answer; this is one of the reasons he was the youngest person to ever receive a drone license in his state. He petitioned lawmakers who were so impressed with his presentation, they removed the age limit from the law. He then took the test for a license and didn't miss one question. Marcus isn't just into drones, he loves all new and emerging technology. But, don't let his love of tech fool you, he isn't one-dimensional at all. Marcus shines the brightest when he is with his cousin Chase, mainly because of his ability to think of the craziest pranks. It's never anything malicious, which means the adults are generally laughing as hard as the kids. And, when their jokes go a little sideways, they are always willing to be there to clean up the mess. Marcus is genuinely the best friend we all wished we had and he gets to show readers that technology is awesome and kids can come up with great ways to have access to not only the technology available today, but they can find ways to introduce new technology into the world themselves that doesn't yet exist. 

Terrence is known as the voice of reason, the one providing the right balance for the two cousins. He is a natural environmental scientist and is always looking for ways we can be a bit kinder to nature. He also loves technology and he focuses on using it to be kinder to the earth - think tree planting machines and water recollection apparatuses. Terrence also loves building models of airplanes and skyscrapers. He has dreams of being the first person to design a fully eco-friendly city. In the meantime, if you want something designed and built that can be used in the real world, Terrence is your person. Terrence is always the first to see the good in others and he possesses a maturity that is not often found in kids his age. Terrence's dad travels quite a bit as a member of the Army Corp of Engineers and his older brother recently left for college, so Terrence inherited some pretty neat tools that his mom is finally getting more comfortable letting him use. That means his creations have continued to grow in pretty epic proportions. Terrence is also quite humble and a bit shy, so readers know to tune in when he is speaking - he doesn't say a lot, but each statement is meaningful and often profound. 

Chase's point of view introduced us to the STEAM Chasers, so he holds a special place in all of our hearts. His nickname of the Thunder says it all, his presence is always felt and him just entering a room commands attention. Chase is a whiz at coding and spends whatever free time he can manage programming Marcus' drones, his own robots, and creating apps. In fact, he is taking the time to help each of his friends create apps to help them with their own projects. Some of the apps he has been working on include a cloud coverage app for Ebony, to help her tell whether she will have visibility to view the stars through her telescope on a given night, and helping Shar create a food substitution app so that people can have a better idea of what ingredients would be safe to include in foods they are making for their friends with allergies. Chase is an ethical hacker, which means he goes into systems to find flaws and reports those vulnerabilities to organizations to help them protect themselves from hackers that would try to do harm. If you ever have a question about electronics, Chase will be there with an answer. And, you will probably find him next to Marcus. The two cousins operate more like brothers, probably because their mom's are identical twins. It is a unique bond that manifests itself in fun ways. Chase does a wonderful job of introducing readers to the adventure they can have in looking behind the door and seeing how things work. He helps kids realize it can actually be more for creating, designing, and making your own games than simply playing games that already exist. He helps to move the reader from being a consumer, to being a creator. 

I hope you have enjoyed this introduction to the STEAM Chasers. One thing I love about each of these characters is that they feel so real. I hope that each and every one of my readers can find a character that truly speaks to them and will be their go-to guide throughout the series. I tried to make the characters deep and multidimensional as they will be our team throughout this series - and I am planning for this series will be around for a very long time!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennings

Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead!

Q&A Why I launch The STEAM Chasers via Kickstarter
over 4 years ago – Fri, Nov 22, 2019 at 03:45:06 AM

Over 10% to our goal in the first 24 hours!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Nov 17, 2019 at 04:19:24 AM

Wow! My mind is blown and my heart is full. Thanks to your support we reached more than 10% of our goal in the first 24-hours. Thank you so much for joining our journey to putting The STEAM Chasers: The Blackness of Space into the hands of as many middle-grade readers as possible. 

The impact of this series isn't in the writing or the publishing, it is getting this book to young readers. Your support allows me to giveaway books to kids, tweens, and teens who would never have access to the book otherwise. Your support allows me to encourage students to not only read about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math, but to jump into exploring those areas in their own lives, by sponsoring awards at science fairs, supporting robotics teams, and so many other opportunities. Remember, The STEAM Chasers isn't just a message, it is a movement. I am so honored that you have decided to join us in this amazing journey!

Full STEAM ahead!