Girl and the Tree

The production of this book presented special obstacles for the author. The text was the easy part. Lissa has been in an epic battle with MS since 2001. In 2005, she lost the use of her left hand. Lissa is left-handed. After four years of letting the text sit fallow, her desire to share this story overcame her fear of failure. The illustrations for this book were done with her right hand. Lissa says the ability to illustrate the book was always in her, it just had to find another way out. It is her prayer that this book may be of help to many. This story has several themes and messages for children and adults, alike. The father gives the girl words to live by, just as our heavenly father does. The girl lets a friend influence her judgment. The friend uses abusive behavior to control the girl. Adults and children can learn what abusive behavior looks like. The book is intended to be used as a starting place for conversation about these topics. Lissa and her husband live in Nashville, TN. They have three grown children.