You Are the Garden, Take Root

What if a story could help a young person recognize that she deserves to be nourished, supported, and seen? That question was at the heart of my short story, You Are the Garden, Take Root, which I wrote for the upcoming book Gen Brave.

The story follows thirteen-year-old Elle, who is quietly struggling with restrictive eating, loneliness, and the feeling that she is slowly disappearing. During a history lesson about Mitchelville—the historic self-governed community established by formerly enslaved people on Hilton Head Island—Elle is transported into the community itself. There, she discovers resilience, belonging, and the power of people caring for one another.

When food becomes scarce, Elle helps plant a community garden. As she learns to nourish the soil, she begins to understand something much deeper: she deserves nourishment, too. At a pivotal moment, her friend Lila tells her, “You can’t grow by starving yourself.” It’s a simple sentence with a much bigger message—and one of the reasons I wanted to write this story.

Why I Believe This Conversation Matters

Disordered eating doesn’t always begin with an eating-disorder diagnosis. It can start quietly: skipping meals, feeling guilty after eating, comparing bodies, restricting certain foods, or believing that being smaller will somehow make life better.

And these behaviors can begin young.

• A 2023 JAMA Pediatrics analysis involving more than 63,000 children and adolescents across 16 countries found that approximately 22% showed signs of disordered eating on a screening measure. Among girls, that figure was approximately 30%. Researchers also found that disordered eating increased with age.

• U.S. research published in JAMA Network Open found that diagnosed eating disorders among girls ages 13–18 more than doubled, from 0.26% in March 2020 to 0.56% in March 2022.

• Other research has documented increased eating-disorder hospitalizations among girls ages 10–14 and sharp increases in pediatric admissions for restrictive eating disorders.

These studies measure different outcomes and age groups, so they don’t tell us that a particular percentage of 12–14-year-old girls has an eating disorder. But together, they underscore something important: early adolescence is a critical time to talk about food, body image, self-worth, and asking for help.

Sometimes Stories Start Conversations

One of the reasons I wrote You Are the Garden, Take Root is because young people don’t always have the words to say, I’m struggling. Sometimes it’s easier to recognize yourself in a character first.

Elle’s story isn’t simply about food. It’s about belonging. She learns that plants need nourishment, gardens need tending, and people need one another. She also discovers that healing doesn’t happen overnight.

By the end of the story, Elle hasn’t magically solved everything. Instead, she does something small but brave: she accepts an invitation from her friend Maya rather than retreating into isolation.

She chooses connection.

She begins to take root.

My Story Is One Part of Gen Brave

I’m incredibly proud that You Are the Garden, Take Root is one of many short stories by contributing authors in Gen Brave, a collection created for the generation finding its voice.

Growing up has never been simple. Today’s teens are navigating friendship struggles, identity, anxiety, social media, family challenges, grief, pressure, and big questions about who they are becoming.

Each Gen Brave story offers a different perspective, a new world to step into, and something to think about long after the final page.

Read it alone. Share it with a friend. Start a conversation. Because you are not alone, you have a voice, and you are braver than you think.

Join the Gen Brave Launch Team

Now, I’d love for you to be part of bringing these stories into the world.

When you join our dedicated Gen Brave Book Launch Team, you’re joining a community committed to sharing brave words and helping Gen Brave reach the young people who may need them most.

We’re asking our launch team to make three simple commitments:

1. Read the digital Advanced Reader Copy of Gen Brave—or as much as you can before launch day.

2. Purchase the eBook on publication day for the special launch-team price of just $1.99. You can also purchase the paperback.

3. Leave an honest Amazon review to help other readers discover the book.

I wrote You Are the Garden, Take Root because I believe stories can give us a safe place to begin conversations about the things young people sometimes struggle to say out loud.

Somewhere, there may be a young reader who feels like Elle—quietly wondering whether anyone notices she’s disappearing.

I hope this story reminds her: You are worth nourishing.You are worth supporting.You are worth seeing.You are the garden.And you can take root.