DREAMING OF A CHEESEBURGER

The Debut of a Middle Grade Fiction Author

Illustration of a girl spraying water on her hair with a spray bottle, holding a comb in her other hand, and a boy sitting on a chair wearing pajamas and colorful sneakers.
A cardboard sign with the text "Dreaming of a Cheeseburger" written in stylized letters. There is half of a cartoon person dressed in a blue striped suit and colorful sneakers, pointing towards a sketch of a bearded man with long hair on a sketchbook. There are name tags for Penelope Browne and Willie.

Willie

My protagonist is a quirky, smart, sensitive thirteen-year-old named Willie who aspires to paint like the British artist David Hockney.

When he notices a homeless man at the Taco Bell near his home, he begins caring for the man...until he finds himself in over his head.

An obsession with art, a noble pursuit, a new best friend, and a first kiss…isn’t seventh grade special?

INSPIRATION

The author’s inspiration for DREAMING OF A CHEESEBURGER came about when her six-year-old granddaughter wanted to build a home for an unhoused man on a steet in Austin.

She came up with multiple ideas, finally compromising and asking if they couldn’t just build a small home out of sticks on a patch of grass.

The idea for a novel was born that day.

My longtime friend Willie Baronet is a leading advocate for the homeless. As a founder of WE ARE ALL HOMELESS, a nonprofit organization, he has traveled the country purchasing signs from unhoused people, having now collected over 2,000 signs. Some of them have been used as images in my story. My protagonist is also named Willie as homage to my incredible friend.

ANOTHER WILLIE

cast of characters

WILLIE

Cartoon illustration of a woman with short hair and colorful streaks, wearing a pinstripe suit and bright sneakers, sitting on a wooden chair against a plain white background.

Thirteen-year-old Willie is the star of the show. Quirky, smart, art-obsessed and empathetic. His generous heart gets him into a situation where he’s soon in over his head.

STEPHEN

Painting of a man with a beard wearing a Santa hat, sitting on a chair against a blue background.

Stephen is a homeless vet who hangs out at Taco Bell. He’s befriended by seventh-grader Willie until a comedic catastrophe results in Willie finally getting a lucky break.

sybil

Illustration of a girl with multicolored hair ice skating, holding spray paint cans and spray painting colorful splashes in the air.

Free-spirited, spunky Sybil is the conqueror of bullies, and Willie’s sidekick. Her art hero is Jean Basquiat.

rosa

Drawing of a woman holding a basket filled with objects, wearing a jacket, gloves, and pants.

Rosa Rodriguez is Willie’s first “crush.” But should he be concerned that she and her family might be living in a car?

MR. COOPER

Sketch of a man with glasses, a mustache, and a mohawk hairstyle, holding up his middle finger. Signed "Willie" at the bottom.

Mr. Cooper, the art teacher, as drawn by Willie. He’s a big influence in Willie’s quest to learn how to paint a portrait for the competition.

Other captivating characters include the math teacher Mr. Capin, Willie’s kind and generous dad Adam, his Mom (in need of a transformation) and the sports-obsessed bully, Greg.

THE PORTRAIT COMPETITION

Mr. Cooper has assigned his seventh grade students to paint portraits for a competition. These paintings are the students’ work.

Painting of a bearded man wearing a Santa hat, beige jacket, blue jeans, and brown boots, sitting on a patterned yellow chair with a blue background.

This is Willie’s portrait of Stephen, the homeless man he gave a hand to for over three months.

A colorful abstract painting depicting a cow with large horns, painted in shades of blue, black, white, yellow, green, and red. The cow's face is outlined in black, with some text and symbols around it, including a tic-tac-toe grid and the words "NO SUGH".
A colorful illustration of a woman with brown hair, surrounded by birds, flowers, and leaves, with text reading "WE GROW AND ROSE R".

Sybil painted her hero Jean Basquiat in a Basquiat-ish style. The wild and crazy style suits the free-spirited Sybil quite well!

Rosa, a huge fan of Frida Kahlo, painted a self portrait, mimicking Kahlo’s style.

Want to take a peek at my completed dummy?

Shoot me an email and I’ll send you the pdf file.

Let’s make this a magical Middle Grade novel!