Story time with Emily Barth Isler

About the book:

Evocative and soul-stirring, Three Pieces of Broken Glass―based on the personal history of author Emily Barth Isler and featuring incandescent illustrations by Vesper Stampe―explores how we must seek to find beauty and strength in even the darkest, most broken times.

Three pieces of broken glass sit on Grandma Inge’s windowsill.

Even though they are small, sharp, and jagged, the light shines through them, casting beautiful rainbows on the wall.

When Inge’s great-granddaughter asks why Inge has kept these shards, she learns decades-old stories from her great-grandmother’s life―from the joy of glass breaking at her wedding to harrowing reminders of smashed windows during Kristallnacht. And she comes to understand why we hold onto our memories both happy and sad.

From award-winning creators Emily Barth Isler and Vesper Stamper, this inspiring and moving story shows what it means to see the world in a hopeful light, even when it is broken.

About the author:

Emily Barth Isler is the award-winning author of the popular middle grade novels AFTERMATH and THE COLOR OF SOUND (Carolrhoda/Lerner), and the picture book THREE PIECES OF BROKEN GLASS (Abrams, 2026). Her next picture book, ALWAYS ENOUGH LOVE (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books), will be published in December 2026, and another picture book, THE HAND-ME-DOWN QUEEN, also from Nancy Paulsen Books, will follow in 2028.

Her writing has appeared in Oprah Daily, Allure, Organic Spa Magazine, etc. Emily is the proud cofounder of the Burbank Book Festival and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two kids. EmilyBarthIsler.com

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