a white teacher hold hands with a black girl in a classroom.

The Swap

by Young Authors Program Editor and Brenae Thomas Author

An eight-year-old girl named Kyrah and her best friend Max attend school together. Max is Kyrah’s only friend. Their teacher, Ms. Porter, is not the best teacher. Some days she hurts the students’ feelings and can be mean. What will happen when it turns out Ms. Porter is hurting Max’s feelings?

This picture book was actually written by an twelve-year-old girl named Brenae Thomas. And it was published by Young Authors Publishing—a nonprofit children's book publisher focused on producing diverse and culturally relevant children's books and to use book publishing as a vehicle to economic mobility for our young authors. Royalties from their book sales are deposited into a savings account for each young author to access at 18 to use toward their post-secondary plans.