Award-winning author, Krystian Leonard, was born in New Mexico, but moved soon after, taking her first steps in the mountains of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. She has an adventurous spirit, enjoying hiking, whitewater rafting and zip lining. An avid animal lover, Krystian has a special friend and companion, a boxer named Ludo, who is a compassion dog in training. Growing up, she experienced firsthand the trials and self-esteem issues associated with visible scars. Healing with those scars left Krystian feeling damaged and ashamed. She found the strength she needed to overcome her self-image and entered her first beauty pageant at age 14. One year later she summoned the courage to compete in the Miss America Scholarship Organization. As part of her application, Krystian was to choose a platform for which she would become an advocate. She wanted something she could be passionate about, and Shining S.C.A.R.S. was born. Through her healing campaign for Shining S.C.A.R.S. Krystian has used her personal experience and pain as a way to reach out to others, helping them to accept their scars and learn to love their #Flawsome bodies as they are. Special gratitude to Krystian’s grandmother, Isela Saldana Montalvo, her creative inspiration.
SH HINING
SCARS SC Krystian Leonard illustrated by Lucas Kelly
“For anyone who has come to see the beauty in their scars and are as strong as their stories behind them.” –Krystian Shining Scars by Krystian Leonard illustrated by Lucas Kelly copyright ©2019 Krystian Leonard All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents, except where noted otherwise, are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any other resemblance to actual people, places or events is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. To order additional copies of this book, or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Kids P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.headlinebooks.com
Tel: 304-789-3001
Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com Ashley Teets—Art Director Lucas Kelly—Design/Layout Published by Headline Books Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books ISBN-13: 978-1-946664-16-7 (paperback) ISBN-13: 978-0-937467-72-4 (hard cover) Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956165 P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D STAT E S OF A M E R IC A
Once upon a time there was a little star named Eugene.
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Little Eugene loved to see how fast he could fly in the night time sky.
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The little star’s mom warned him not to go too fast!
She didn’t want him to get hurt...
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But the little star didn’t listen to his mom.
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And one day he flew across the sky too fast and fell!
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The little star fell on his head and got a boo-boo!
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He cried to his mom while she held him tight. She looked into his eyes and told him everything will be all right.
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She took little Eugene to the Galaxy Hospital... where they took special care.
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When they were done Eugene felt better and was happy to go home.
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But Eugene was scared about his new scar and didn’t want his friends to know. His mom told him not to worry, his scar would shine bright! After their talk, he wasn’t scared anymore. So the little star fell sound asleep that night.
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When Eugene woke up the next morning he was so surprised! His little scar shined extra bright!
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Little Eugene suddenly wasn’t afraid of his scar and couldn’t wait to show his friends his shining new spot! Eugene’s friend’s asked him lots of questions that day. And he never gave it a thought.
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He wanted his friends to know everything about his scar and to them he taught—kindness and caring— and to see scars in a different light.
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He taught about how it glows! He taught about how it shines! And all his little friends said... Look at mine!
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Krystian Leonard
President and Founder of Shining S.C.A.R.S. Award-winning author, Krystian Leonard, is the president and founder (at age 14) of her nonprofit organization, Shining S.C.A.R.S. She is from Clarksburg, West Virginia and currently attends West Virginia University pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism. Krystian founded her non-profit organization, Shining S.C.A.R.S. which stands for finding Strength, building Character for self-Acceptance to Rise above the Stigma. Overcoming stigmas related to scars is at the heart of this unique organization and stems from Krystian’s battle and experiences resulting from visible scars from the age of 4. Her surgeries left her with several large scars and she endured first-hand the trials and self-esteem issues associated with taunts and bullying because of those scars. Krystian was called names and isolated from her peers and the worst part of her bullying came from the feeling that she could never be beautiful. Even though Krystian’s scars healed physically, she was left with emotional scarring associated with the severe bullying she endured. Hoping to overcome her negative self-image Krystian decided to enter her first beauty pageant at the age of 14, and after searching for a community platform that she could personally resonate with, decided to create her own nonprofit, thus Shining S.C.A.R.S. was born. Pageantry gave Krystian a voice and a stage to stand up and prove to her bully’s that she would no longer be silent. By reacting with positive action and a decision to love herself, she became a positive voice for others who are bullied because of the stigmas of their personal scar stories. Krystian has been a featured speaker at TEDx Boca Raton, Contagious Optimism Live and Next Gen Summit. As an anti-bullying speaker, Krystian travels annually, reaching thousands of teens with her story of overcoming pain and triumph. Her nonprofit works to gather funding to provide her children’s book, Shining Scars, to children’s hospitals and recovery centers treating patients relating to burns, cleft palate, spina bifida, and cancer recovery. Her book has now reached 22 countries and thousands of copies have been donated thru the nonprofit organization, Cuddles for Clefts. By creating a positive, and character building organization, it is Krystian’s goal to build an informative community aiding in the healing process. You can learn more about this creative social awareness campaign at www.shiningscars.com