Stella can’t wait to turn seven! She and her best friend, Roger, agree seven-year-olds get to have much more fun. But the more grown-up you are, the more you can do, so maybe Stella will skip seven altogether and go straight to eight years old! Anything’s better than being six. Being seven or eight is being practically a grown-up, like Stella’s neighbor Eva.

Eva does all kinds of thing Stella can’t yet—real grown-up things like eating vegetables…getting a job… Maybe Stella didn’t think this all the way through.

"Clothilde Ewing's 'Stella' is exactly who I've been looking for from the second I founded my imprint. A spunky, funny little girl with a huge imagination and great stories to tell," said Denene Millner, editorial director of her eponymous imprint at Simon & Schuster. "Stella is my daughter, their friends, our neighbors, the everyday little Black girl next door. Clothilde's series speaks directly to the mission of Denene Millner Books to highlight those everyday lives of Black children in a big way''  Denene Millner Editor

Clothilde Ewing started her work life as a lifeguard, but she has spent most of her career telling people’s stories as a journalist (CBS News), television producer (The Oprah Winfrey Show), and communications professional. She loves using the written word to honor a child’s imagination and is on a mission to help adults tap into the wonder they felt as children. She believes that one of the greatest lessons we can pass on to our kids is that differences are for celebrating, and that we have more in common than we ever imagined. A native of Cleveland, she lives in Chicago with her husband and two highly energetic children.