Sonoma author garners recognition for youth fiction

Christy Hoss, formerly a school teacher at Kenwood Elementary, followed one of the most fundamental rules of writing to create an incredibly successful children’s series: write what you know.

Set in Wildwood, the series follows an improbable group of elementary school students from different backgrounds and experiences, united by the goal to perform in the school talent show as The Rubber Band. The first book focuses primarily on Eddie, the identical twin of Oliver, who helps to form the band along with “a ragtag group of elementary school kids.”

The reason Hoss’s writing reads well and draws in its audience is because the experiences and world she writes about are taken from her own experiences. She drew a large amount of the inspiration for the book from her experience as a teacher.

“There's so many things that go on that you know, that the kids might share with you or talk about or that you just see,” Hoss said. “I've experienced Kenwood. I've been there. I've been immersed in it. I know the community, I love the little town that it is. It's just a tight knit, close place to be. And I wanted to bring that out in my writing.”

Kenwood and the rest of the Sonoma Valley are the inspiration for the town of Wildwood, the setting for the series. Hoss based Eddie and Oliver, two of the central characters, almost entirely on students she had in her first year at Kenwood Elementary. Not only that, but the Rubber Band came from a talent show that the school organized.

“I was looking for a good story and one assembly in the morning, it was a preview of our talent show.” Hoss said. “The last act was called The Rubber Band. And they're a group of fourth- and fifth-grade kids. They came out and played ‘Born to be Wild’ like you would not believe. It was so professionally done.

Hoss found herself marveling at the group and immediately took to her feet to rock on with the band. She asked if they would play her 50th birthday party, and then chewed on the story’s potential.

Burying itself in the mind of Hoss, she went to a writing conference and pitched the idea to an editor. Before she’d even written the book she sent a proposal to the editor and the elementary school story began its journey to print. Hoss, who graduated with a degree in journalism and spent her young life dreaming to be a writer, handed in her resignation soon after.

“To read a good book, it’s an escape,” Hoss said. “And, for me, writing is like an escape, too. When I was a young girl in third grade, I started writing stories and I would sit down at a desk and I wouldn't stop until that story was out of my head. I just wrote, wrote furiously until I had calluses on my fingers and I understand why I did that now. It’s a creative outlet, a chance to use your imagination and a way to escape. I don’t need to escape to my imaginary worlds, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun.”

Fifteen years ago, while she taught at Kenwood, Hoss began to reimagine her dreams of becoming a writer. She began to take writing classes and attend conferences, intent on being a romance writer. Now that she is writing children’s books, she sees an even greater challenge and reward in the career she made for herself.

“This is my opportunity to reach young people in positive ways and try to inspire them because the world is so negative,” Hoss said. “We need more positive things out there. I think anybody can write a romance novel, but writing for children is a challenge. You have to be engaging. You have to be on their level. I just like to be straightforward and upfront with them and just face issues that they have to face. They face life like we do every day and it's rough. So why not talk about hard issues like foster care, illness and other things.”

The Rubber Band was a finalist for 2021 Selah Awards contest and received a gold readership seal. The series is available on Amazon and at local bookstores, and a third book is expected to be released in the summer of 2022, “The Rubber Band: Slingshot Summer.”