Viewmont Elementary school counselor Heather Preece has spent years helping kids find their place. Now, she’s written a story to empower them to do it themselves.

Her debut children’s book, “The Day I Outsmarted the Sparkle Sisters,” transforms the sting of being left out into a fun yet powerful lesson about inclusion and resiliency. 

For Preece, the story isn’t just fiction, it’s personal. 

As a student, she remembers being excluded and the courage it took to change that.

“One of the strategies that worked for me when I wasn’t part of the cliques was to find other people who also were alone and make up a fun game to play together; they became my best friends,” she said. “My mom was the person who taught me to get out and have fun and include others.”

She also remembers she was just starting her career working at an elementary when a student showed up at recess using a telephone cord rather than a jump rope.

That same creativity can be found in her book when the Sparkle Sisters, a pair of glittery exclusive girls, controlled the classroom’s only jump rope. After trying several options, the main character creates her own solution, not by exclusion, but inclusion. She and her classmates tie shoelaces, bows and other objects together to create a second jump rope.

“I wanted to encourage taking a look around for other people who also are feeling left out and being creative to find a solution,” Preece said. “I intentionally wrote the story in first person. I want children to read these empowering phrases in their voices.”

Her background in social work shapes that approach.

“I don't find a lot of books on covert meanness and social aggression,” she said.

So, she wrote the book, which will “help girls at my school and has empowered my own daughters to recognize it.”

In fact, she wrote the story soon after her oldest was born 15 years ago.

“As a kid when my elementary teacher asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said, ‘I want to write kids’ books.’ But it wasn’t until I was rocking and feeding my daughter when I wrote some stories down on paper in a notebook,” she said.

Occasionally, she’d take the notebooks out and work on them. She shared stories with an online writing group and got positive feedback. Through multiple jobs, graduate school and raising a family, she’d send off the story but got about 30 rejections from agents and publishers.

“I had overwhelming positive feedback. Most wanted more work, not just one story,” she said, but wasn’t ready to share her other stories tucked away in the notebook.

Eventually, she found the right fit with Lawley Publishing, a publisher which shared her vision and her commitment to accessibility.

“They agreed to publish it in both English and Spanish and release it at the same time. That was important to me. I wanted to show up for that community, too,” she said.

Preece grew up in Kearns, having many Spanish-speaking classmates and friends. She enrolled in Spanish in junior high, then continued to practice it as an adult to be able to have conversations with students and their families at Viewmont.

She also wanted to make sure the book is more than storytelling. On the publisher’s website, there are free bilingual downloads of worksheets and activities designed to spark discussion and reflection.

Preece cried tears of joy when she first held her book and now is excited about the May 12 launch date and its impact. For her, the book is more than a story. It’s an extension of the work she does every day, helping kids feel seen, included and empowered.

“I've personally learned is you got to put yourself out there if you want to do something to make the world better,” she said. “I want to get the message out there so kids can be creative, resilient and inclusive.”