The Adventures of Jelly Bean

Above is the cover of the middle-grade book I wrote (for ages 8-13 year-olds), which is the story of a forthright fourth-grader whom everyone calls Jelly Bean. The challenges she meets include: being the youngest in her family and having three older brothers; feeling as if her parents and teachers often don't understand her; dealing with the death of her beloved grandfather; having a best friend whom her parents won't allow her to visit (and learning to understand how that friend - who happens to be of mixed race - feels); dealing with friends' relationships and figuring out popularity; having an anorexic friend and the problems that encompasses; dealing with family issues and interrelationships; drug and alcohol issues (of various people around her, but which are treated - in the book - in an age-appropriate manner); and more.

I hope you will give THE ADVENTURES OF JELLY BEAN (vol. 1) a try. I know you will enjoy her story, and also that it can lead to some interesting and valuable discussions.

My book is currently available for order from:

The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean

Join Jelly Bean in the continuation of her adventures as she seeks solutions to the challenges that confronted her in book 1. Michael, her oldest brother, has dropped out of school and joined the Marines, which usurps much of her parents’ attention. Kylie, the new girl in school, faces a medical emergency. And Jelly Bean is still forbidden from going to her best friend’s house.

She has to decide how to deal with these dilemmas and more. Along the way she learns about love, death, pain, relationships, the difference between right and wrong and the value of friendship. See the world through the eyes of this forthright fourth-grader as she discovers two truths about life – that it is always complicated, and always changing.

This book is currently available for order from:

Videos

About the Author

Amy Meislin Pollack has been reading and writing ever since she can remember. The Adventures of Jelly Bean, followed by The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean, first came into being when the author's fourth-grade teacher used to ask her to get up in front of the class and tell the stories about this character she would make up as she went along. Several years later she started writing these stories down, and would work on them here and there in any free time she had during her teaching career and raising her three children. Now retired from a 40-year career in teaching - a wide range of subjects and grade levels - she lives in central New Jersey with her husband and their dog named Bunny.

The silver lining of the Covid pandemic for Ms. Pollack was that she was more or less forced, after approximately sixty years, to finish her Jelly Bean books. It had become just about impossible to think up any more excuses to tell anyone who asked why she had not finished it yet.

She still pursues her writing career - several Jelly Bean sequels are in the works - and the only thing she loves doing more is spending time with two sons and one daughter, their spouses, and her seven wonderful grandchildren (who fortunately do not live too far away!).

Austin Macauley Publishers Website - Amy Meislin Pollack

Amazon Authors - Amy Meislin Pollack

Media

East Hanover Florham Park Life - July 2022

Suburban Essex - June 2022

West Essex Tribune - April 14, 2022