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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Local author inspired to write 'tween book about St. Therese

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 31, 2008

Gregg McIntosh | The Michigan Catholic Nancy Carabio Belanger, of Rochester Hills, has written a Catholic fiction book for young adults,“Olivia and the Little Way,” about a 10-year-old who develops a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux.

Rochester Hills — Nancy Carabio Belanger had been searching for a long time for quality, Catholic-based fiction for children, but wasn't making progress finding any. So one day, while her two children were at school, she sat down and began to write a book herself.

The result was "Olivia and the Little Way," a chapter book about a 10-year-old girl who struggles to fit in at her new Catholic school. Olivia's grandmother introduces her to St. Therese of Lisieux, and throughout the course of the book, Olivia develops a devotion to the saint, turning to her in times of trouble.

"She helped me write it, I really, truly believe," Carabio Belanger said of the saint. "It was amazing how she worked through my fingers at that keyboard."

Carabio Belanger pointed out that although there are many Catholic-based books about the saints and the sacraments, what she wanted to do was fill the niche for youth Catholic fiction. She wants children to be able to closer to God and their Church — without being preached to — while reading something they could curl up on the couch and relax with, she said.

"There aren't that many role models," she said, and especially for "'tweens" — children who aren't quite teenagers. "I don't like a lot of what I see out there for kids. I feel they deserve better."

There's nothing special about Olivia, Carabio Belanger said, as she has her faults and her flaws. But, St. Therese was flawed, too, and admittedly so — and recognized that God loved her anyway, despite her distaste for housework and her temper.

During the process of researching for her book, she came to know St. Therese better and wanted to get to the heart of who she was as a person. "She's just so real and human to me," she said. "I hope that kids can see themselves in her." After the movie "Therese" came out a few years ago, Carabio Belanger, 36, said she started to pray to the saint more frequently. However, before her family moved to Rochester Hills after a brief time in Texas, they had attended National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Royal Oak — whose patron saint is St. Therese. To prepare for writing her book, she read St. Therese's autobiography, "The Story of a Soul," and some of her letters.

She did much of her writing while her sons, Vincent, 10 and Paul, 8, were in school, but sometimes the inspiration would hit her when they were home, as well. Then, she had to shoo them out of the room so she could write down her thoughts before they disappeared.

Carabio Belanger gives much of the credit for the book to the saint herself, as she felt St. Therese getting her through writer's block, starting her on the book again after a short break, and keeping her working to fill the niche she believes existed. In fact, the book was scheduled to be released at the end of the month, after being sent to the printer Oct. 1 — St. Therese's feast day.

"She's just been an incredible friend to me," she said.

Carabio Belanger, a Marian High School alumna, attends St. Irenaeus Parish in Rochester Hills with her sons and husband, John-Paul. Her illustrator, Sandra Casali LewAllen, is an art teacher at Holy Family Regional School.

When she's not writing, she works as a freelance copy editor, volunteers at her sons' school, cooks and gardens.

Carabio Belanger said her dream is to write a series that takes place at Olivia's school, but she won't take on another project until she feels inspired to do so. For now, she's spending time finding markets for her book; so far, it will be carried at Faith @ Work Catholic bookstore in Troy, where she was to have a book signing. She also appeared on Ave Maria Radio 990 AM last week.

The process of writing "Olivia and the Little Way" has been a labor of love for her, she said, but she'd consider it a success if children read it and grow closer to God as a result.

"I'll let God lead me," she said. "He'll tell me what he wants me to do."

• Faith@Work