Real life to fiction: Virginia Beach author’s new book series highlights family’s experience with neurodivergence

“No, that’s my brick!”

It’s the start of an argument Virginia Beach resident Jen Malia has heard many times — and one many parents can likely relate to. Malia’s three children have filled the front room with tens of thousands of Legos to build their own little city of houses with slides, little Lego people strewn about and — soon — a model of Castle Grayskull from “He-Man.”

So when Malia finally sat down to write about a little boy who has two sisters and they all love playing with building bricks, it was not hard to find inspiration.

It was moments like those that Malia pored into her upcoming series, “The Infinity Rainbow Club.” The series is for kids like Malia’s — about 8 to 10 years old, creative and neurodivergent.

Malia is autistic, her husband has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their three kids have combinations of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dyslexia and dysgraphia, a neurological disorder that impacts writing.

Malia wanted to show these “brain differences” and others in her books without the differences being the challenge.

The first book, “Nick and the Brick Builder Challenge,” will be released Tuesday. It’s the story of Nick, who has the same name as Malia’s son, who is excited about a brick builder challenge. But he does not like working with others, and he is partnered with a new girl in school. The character Nick is autistic like Malia’s son and one of her daughters.

It’s a story many fourth graders like Nick can probably relate to, but it is told from the perspective of a neurodivergent character who helped start The Infinity Rainbow Club for kids who “felt different” like him.

“It’s not a book about autism,” Malia said. “It’s a book about a kid who likes to build with plastic bricks.”

It is the kind of book Malia wishes she had when she was a little girl before she was ever diagnosed. She remembers the meltdowns and sensory overloads she had and that she sees in her two children.

Malia was diagnosed with ASD in her 30s. It was the same day her daughter was diagnosed. Malia had been learning about autism as she recognized the signs of ASD in her daughter, Malia realized she shared those traits.

Malia went from writing about violence and terrorism in Gothic literature to also writing about her experiences as a woman with autism, a mother with autism with children who are neurodivergent as well. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post and Woman’s Day.

She had found her niche. What she had not expected was to be approached to write a children’s book.

“I never thought about writing for kids,” Malia said. Yet when she did, she loved it.

She was asked to write a book about a young girl with ASD. In 2020, she released “Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism.” The character Holly, named for Malia’s middle child, is an autistic girl who struggles with “sticky hands,” a sensation that Malia struggles with.

Malia is a professor at Norfolk State University, where she is the creative writing coordinator and teaches world literature, composition and more.

Now instead of being approached for her research in literature, her students often ask what it is like to be a published author.

The second book in the series, “Violet and the Jurassic Land Exhibit,” is about Violet, another Infinity club member, who struggles to enjoy volunteering at the local natural history museum while her OCD makes her anxious about making mistakes. It will be available Oct. 24.

The third, “Connor and the Taekwondo Tournament ” is about a young boy with ADHD who has to work a little harder to stay focused getting ready for a tournament when his nemesis shows up at the same dojang. It comes out on March 12, 2024.

Her kids are always the first to read Malia’s books. She watches their reactions to see if they laugh at the right spots and she asks them for suggestions. When the family received the advanced copies of the Nick novel, the children couldn’t conceal their excitement.

Malia shared a video on her Facebook page of her and the kids unboxing the copies. Noelle’s jaw dropped when she saw the dozens of books and 8-year-old Nick started pulling some out.

She also includes the family in the research process. There is the dinosaur dig the five of them did for the second book. The scientific names of the dinosaurs they learned are included because Malia wants the books to be informational as well.

She and her family also got to see the taekwondo forms they all know translated into illustrations. Malia is a black belt and her children have also studied the martial art.

She said her family’s lives are not “harder” because of their neurodivergence. Often, Malia feels that when people learn she or her kids are autistic, there is a sense of “I’m so sorry” even if those words aren’t said.

The books show the good and the bad. Nick, just like the character, might have gotten overwhelmed at dinner one night and hid in his closet. Malia added a bit of humor to the real-life moment and, in the book, and Nick’s tummy growled while he was in the closet and they all laughed and continued on with the evening.

She often hears from others who are neurodivergent or have a loved one who is.

Malia will be at Prince Books in Norfolk on Oct. 28 for an event with the first two books of the series. “Too Sticky!” was released at the height of the pandemic and she only had virtual events. This will be the first time she gets to “get out and talk to kids.”

And, she hopes, to see the impact of her work.

Kelsey Kendall, kelsey.kendall@virginiamedia.com