FOSTER — Once upon a time there was a child with a persistent, distressing stutter. This adorable blond-haired, blue-eyed little girl lived in a not-so-faraway place called Massachusetts in the small town of Upton. Here she was taunted mercilessly due to her inability to speak correctly, to the point she could barely speak at all. She became painfully shy and introverted. Magically, however, this little girl learned that she had the ability to disappear into an enchanted world—a world beyond her imagination. A world created by words. A world of books.
She grew to love this world, and by her sixth year of elementary school, she had miraculously found her voice in the written word. She knew then that she could—and would—speak to others through her pen. Five novels later, Kimberly Newton Fusco was honored this year with a Christopher Award for her latest work, “The Secret of Honeycake.”
Established in 1949 by Father James Keller, Christopher Awards honor writers, producers, directors, authors, and illustrators whose media works affirm the highest values of the human spirit. The awards follow the motto: “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
“I really believe talents are a gift from God,” Fusco said in awe. “We are supposed to use them. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy,” but earning this award felt like a sign that she is “on the right path in doing what the Lord is intending.”
Structuring the Story
In school, Fusco’s teachers noticed her talent and encouraged her to write. Her first published piece was an anti-war poem in a national church paper at age 19. She began her professional writing career in college, where she worked for various newspapers including the Boston Globe, Newport Daily News and the Providence Journal. After graduation, she became a journalist on the education beat at the Worcester Telegram.
Four children and 15 years later, she left the Telegram for full-time motherhood, a task she greatly loved.
Perhaps it was that or her early love of books or the time spent in schools as a journalist—or a combination of all—but Fusco had always wanted to write novels for children.
“It was then, in little half-hour snippets, that I began writing a novel,” she said.
She joined a writer’s group and took roughly six years on her first work. At a writer’s conference in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, she met the woman who would become her longtime—and only—editor. Initially, she rejected Fusco’s manuscript as “too plot-driven,” pointing out that her publishing house, Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House, focuses instead on character-driven novels.
Rather than closing the chapter on her dream, Fusco went back to her writing desk and focused on a story she knew: one about a child with a speech impediment. From that was born “Tending to Grace.”
One after another book followed, and “Each book has gone further and further out into the world.” Her work has been selected for reading lists and recognized as award winners and finalists by many different organizations.
“The Secret of Honeycake” features a young girl named Hurricane who comes to live with her aunt Claire during the Great Depression. The cast of characters includes Hurricane’s dog, “a flea-bitten cat,” a young boy and a chauffeur.
Tony Rossi serves as director of communications for The Christophers. He read “The Secret of Honeycake” for the contest and said that even with the different era, “we found it contained timeless themes that are still relevant to young people today. For instance, Hurricane’s struggle to be herself—compared to who society wants her to be—can reflect young people today who struggle to be themselves in the face of social media pressures.”
He praised the characters in the novel, both Hurricane and the adults who act as role models for her—“and she, in turn, is a good role model for them.
“In a nutshell, we found ‘The Secret of Honeycake’ to be wise, charming, and humorous, promoting the types of values that can help young people grow into the person God created them to be,” he concluded.
Character Building
Fusco is one of the fortunate ones, a writer who has taken the vision in her mind’s eye from idea all the way to publication. It is a difficult road, often filled with rejection letters and discouragement, with more manuscripts ending up on the slush pile than the bestseller’s lists. Even Fusco admitted, “It’s kind of scary being a writer. You need thick skin and a lot of prayer. But the joy is immeasurable.”
As with most writers, her life experiences meld into her writing. The mother and boyfriend in “Tending to Grace” are based on families she wrote about as an educational journalist, another character’s knowledge of wild foods comes from Fusco’s father and her beach-inspired settings stem from summers spent on Cape Cod.
Her faith also plays a large part in her literature. She adores her parish of St. Paul the Apostle in Foster, which she describes as “a small country church, filled with prayer, good people.”
Assigned to St. Paul, Deacon Fernando Botelho has known Fusco for 30 years.
“She became Catholic at our parish many years ago,” he said.
He testified to her deep faith and character. “She is a very unassuming person, very soft-spoken; if you knew her, you’d want to be her friend. … She’s very intentional in her faith, but not showy or off-putting.”
The Next Chapter
Though her four children are now grown, she still loves being a mother and states that she would do it all over again if she could. Today, she frequently goes into local schools to speak to the students; to encourage them to read, to inspire them toward their life goals.
For 20 years, Fusco has been active with the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites in Barrington as a Third-Order Carmelite. She gives formational talks for the order, though initially this was where she learned the art of contemplative prayer. Oftentimes she can be found wandering the six-acre wooded property surrounding her home, walking and praying and journaling. This is where many of her ideas are born.
In April, she received a “top secret” email from her editor, Michelle Frey: she was being given the Christopher Award in the category of Books for Young People. “Honeycake” touched Frey’s heart and she was the one to nominate Fusco for the award. She even came to Rhode Island to help launch it.
Deacon Botelho has also read Fusco’s works and said of them: “Her stories are so beautifully crafted; they’re like reading a haiku.”
He calls her work “a story that comes from her heart and formed by her love of Christ.” And children from all over the country contact her about how her writing has impacted them.
Fusco is in the process of writing a new book, this one about a boy and his grandfather. She hopes to continue writing in a way that honors her faith and the contemplative nature of her prayer life, glorifying God with her gifted pen.
Her books can be purchased in bookstores and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She can be found at www.kimberlynewtonfusco.com and on Facebook, Instagram and X.
