Brentwood children's author enjoys living life to fullest

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By Roni Gehlke

IN 1970, Brentwood children's author Carol Linden was listening to a local radio station and heard a story about how the state was finding it difficult to find adoptive parents for bi-racial children. Linden answered that call, and her life with Cherie, the half-French and half-black child she adopted, is the subject of her first published book.

"Susie Q Kitten, Is That Your Sister?" is the story of two sister kittens, Susie and Cherie, who are adopted and go through life as sisters without recognizing the obvious difference between them.

"Susie Q is a beautiful white cat and Cherie a beautiful brown bunny. The girls learn the meaning of family and fun in this whimsical, lighthearted tale with a relevant message," Linden said.

In the book Linden uses the names of two of her adopted daughters for each of the kittens, whom she says lived a very similar life to the ones in her book. Originally she was going to just give the book as a gift to the two women, but then decided that she would try to get it published.

Before adopting Cherie, the Lindens adopted two other children. After Cherie's adoption,
birth to a son. The Lindens' first adopted child was Susan, or Susie as her family knows her.

"Whenever Susie and Cherie would play in the playground other children would say to Susie, 'Is that your sister?' Since we hadn't brought our children up to believe there was anything different about them, Susie never thought anything of the question," Linden said.

It was later as the children got older that Linden started realizing that outside people saw their family differently. The girls were raised together in the 1970s, but Linden said she isn't so sure that people's opinions have really changed that much since then — no matter how enlightened people think they are.

"I believe that prejudice has to be learned as a child. When I was growing up in Kentucky there were no black children around me. By the time I moved to Ohio with my family I met them for the first time and didn't see any differences with them," she said. "My children were raised to believe that there are no differences and are better for it."

Linden says that she hopes her book will teach other children an important lesson.
While the differences in race might be considered the most controversial part of her book, Linden has found that in some cases her mention of God stirred more controversy. In one section of the book, Cherie asks why God made her different from Susie. Recently, Linden read the book in one of her grandchildren's elementary school classes and was asked by the teacher to not read the verses with God in them.

She couldn't believe how much of an issue that was, but her grandchild was looking forward to hearing the story and she decided to go ahead and cut the lines when she read it to the children. She didn't have that problem when she read the book for 125 students at a Christian school, nor was she asked to take the verses out when she read the book at the Brentwood Barnes & Noble at her book-signing earlier this week.

There was a time when getting a book published, let alone writing one, was the furthest thing from Linden's mind. She has been a stage two breast cancer survivor for the past 21 years.
"I was told by my doctor to get my ducks in a row, but the cancer never came back. Since then I do what I want to do and make every day like it is a new ballgame," she said. "No one can guarantee they are going to be here for long."

It is with that in mind that she has decided to work on getting five other children's books that she has written published as soon as possible. She said the other books aren't controversial. She also will make a 30-second television commercial for "Susie Q Kitten, Is That Your Sister?" through her publishing company that will air on cable television stations.

Linden works on her books while she and her husband travel around in their RV. They just returned from a long trip to Florida and are already back to camping at Lake Camanche for a while. They are also planning to take the RV to Ohio and spend the summer with her brother.
"You just never know long you have, so you should live life to the fullest," she said.

"Susie Q Kitten, Is That Your Sister?" is available online through Tate Publishing, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and Borders. It is available as a print book, Kindle e-book and audio.