Stacy Cervenka Co-Authors a Novel

Stacy Cervenka, an EMPOWER VI adult advisory board member, has published a novel for middle-grade readers, Roxie in Color! Read below to hear from Stacy about her book and touring experiences.

“In 2018, former Parents Magazine Deputy Editor Diane Debrovner contacted me about an article she was writing for the magazine on parents who are blind. She interviewed about a dozen blind and low vision parents for a cover story that came out in June 2019 called "What Blind Parents Want You To See." At the time, I was serving as the Chairperson of the Blind Parents Group of the National Federation of the Blind.

Diane and I remained in touch through the years. She knew I did a lot of freelance writing about blindness and blind parenting. A few years ago, she approached me about co-authoring a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl with blind parents.

That novel, Roxie In Color, was released by Candlewick Press on June 2, 2026. Diane and I enjoyed several book launch events in New York City, as well as release events in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa. We also served on a panel about representation in middle-grade literature at the American Booksellers' Association Winter Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The novel tells the story of Roxie Glass, a 12-year-old girl who moves to a new town and begins seventh grade at a new school. Due to her quiet, artistic nature and the fact that her family is different, she endured some bullying from classmates at her previous school and is determined to fit in at her new school. She decides not to tell her new classmates that her parents are blind until they get to know her first.

Throughout the book, the reader learns about a variety of issues that impact people who are blind, including guide dog discrimination by Uber and Lyft drivers and businesses, website inaccessibility, and employment discrimination. However, the reader also learns that Roxie's parents are basically just typical parents who go to work, make dinner, go grocery shopping, meet up for dinner with other blind parents and their families, bake, rock-climb, and take their kids on vacations.

Eventually, Roxie and her friends have a sleepover at Roxie's house and make an unwise decision that results in a neighbor calling Child Protective Services on Roxie's parents. Now, Roxie must learn to stand up for the people she loves against an often prejudiced and unfair system. While Roxie begins the book trying to hide the things about herself that make her feel different, she learns to embrace who she is, who her family is, and to stand up for what she knows to be true. The book has received many positive reviews from mainstream periodicals such as Kirkus Reviews, Publishers' Weekly, School Library Journal, and Booklist.

The print version of the book uses a font developed by the Braille Institute called Atkinson Hyperlegible, which features elements that make it easier to read by people with low vision. It is also available on Kindle, Audible, and for free on NLS BARD. A large print version will be released later this year.”