Welcome to SCBWI-MI's Book Birthday Blog!
Where we celebrate new books from Michigan's authors, illustrators and translators.
Congratulations to Kristin Bartley Lenz on the release of The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, 10th Anniversary Edition
Please describe the path to publish the 10th anniversary edition of your novel?
Like most of my author career, the 10th anniversary path was bumpy and full of detours but with loads of encouragement along the way. The Art of Holding On and Letting Go had a great start thanks to the support of a hard-working small press, Elephant Rock Books (ERB). The novel earned honors, I was busy with events, and my agent was focused on selling my next novel. Then came the pandemic and everything ground to a halt. ERB closed in 2022, rights reverted to me, and soon the remaining books in bookstores dwindled until all that remained were used copies on Amazon. My agent thought we had a good chance of reselling it to another publisher, but like many submissions, that dragged on for years. Along the way, another small press contract was cancelled, and I questioned what to do. Maybe I should just let it be—the book had a great run. Maybe I should self-publish, just to have enough copies on hand for events. Finally in early 2026, an opportunity came out of left field. Left Field Publishing was a new small press led by industry veterans Kristen Gilligan and Len Vlahos. They rescued my orphaned novel and brought it back to life with a fresh new cover and a marketing plan to reach a new generation of readers.
What is something you hope your readers will take away from your book?
I hope readers find comfort in Cara’s journey of discovery. She navigates loss, makes new friends, deepens her relationship with her grandparents, grapples with her changing relationship with her parents, finds moment of joy and wonder and strength, and ultimately recognizes that home can be somewhere very different than where you started. This theme of holding on and letting go is universal – we all experience various degrees of loss as we navigate transitions in every stage of life. Cara might even inspire you to try rock climbing!
What are your marketing plans for the book and where can we find it?
My publisher has been busy advertising and sending ARCs to booksellers and librarians, and the book is now available wherever books are sold— bookstores and online retailers. But most importantly, I wanted this to be a book that gives back. I’m a social worker and it was hard to choose just one nonprofit to support, but I settled on Kids Empowered on the Move, a Metro Detroit organization focused on homelessness prevention. KEOTM provides targeted financial assistance, emergency shelter, rental support, and housing navigation to help families avoid eviction and transition into stable housing. I’m donating 25% of all preorders and launch day sales to this nonprofit, and some of my local events will also be fundraisers.
On Oct. 21st, 6:30pm, I’ll be at Sidetrack Books in Royal Oak for a book launch/fundraising event “in conversation” with the executive director of Kids Empowered on the Move.
On Oct. 24th, 6:30pm, at Book Beat in Oak Park, I’ll be part of a Prose and Poetry event with five other YA authors. We’ll have short readings, a Q&A, a demonstration of the Metaphor Dice to spark stories and poems, free ARCs, and more!
On Nov. 21st, I’ll be signing books and speaking on a panel at the annual NCTE convention in Philadelphia.
What's next for you?
I have a new novel coming out on March 9th, 2027! In The Door Swings Open, a sixteen-year-old girl searches for her missing friend through a runaway shelter and the streets of Detroit where buried secrets, trafficking fears, and a mysterious homeless boy force her to confront the hidden violence surrounding vulnerable teens. It’s a much different story than The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, and while the subject is darker, it’s also full of beauty, light, and hope. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover, and it’s available for pre-order now.
Thank you Christy and the SCBWI-MI blog team for having me here!
More about the book . . .
When tragedy interrupts her nomadic life, a teenage climber must learn the hardest balance of all—how to hold on to love, joy, and connection while letting go of what she may have lost.
“When every piece falls into place, it’s like a dance, a delicate but powerful balancing act. The art of holding on and letting go at the same time.”
Competitive climber Cara Jenkins feels most at home high off the ground, clinging to a rock wall by her fingertips. Raised by mountaineering parents, she’s grown up roaming the world, making the natural landscape her playground and the writings of Annie Dillard and Henry David Thoreau her guides. But when tragedy interrupts an expedition on an Ecuadorian mountaintop, Cara’s nomadic life is abruptly upended.
Sent to live with her grandparents in suburban Detroit, Cara begins a year of unexpected discovery—finding friendship, first love, humor, and moments of joy alongside grief. As she navigates what she may have lost, Cara learns that healing doesn’t require certainty, and that love, connection, and even home can take shape in surprising ways, with moments of real sparkle along the way.
Published by: Left Field Publishing
More about the author . . .
Kristin Bartley Lenz is a writer and social worker who has lived in Michigan, Georgia, and California. Her rock climbing adventures inspired her debut young adult novel, The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection and a Great Lakes Great Books Award honor title. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, an array of literary journals, and two anthologies (Rhyme & Rhythm: Poems for Student Athletes and Just YA: Short Poems, Essays, & Fiction for Grades 7-12). She also writes freelance for Detroit area nonprofits, teaches creative writing for teens and adults, and escapes to the woods and lakes in northern Michigan whenever she can. Look for her new novel, The Door Swings Open in 2027, and learn more at kristinbartleylenz.com.
Instagram: @KristinBartleyLenz
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