Home

Arlene On the Scene grew out of one moment, a moment of connection between two friends. Carol Liu and Marybeth Caldarone locked eyes that day, years ago, and decided: there should be a book.  There should be a book about a kid with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Shark–what??  It’s a weird name, a difficult disease. Marybeth and her daughter, Grace, have it. It’s not that rare, but too many have never heard of it. Marybeth and Carol decided that would have to change.

So they got to writing, and out popped Arlene. Yes, onto the scene. And she’s been making waves ever since.

Carol decided to take the show on the road, and one student at a time, explain why she wrote the book, why she believes–with her heart and soul–in the messages contained within its pages, and why we all need to get together to change the future for kids like Grace Caldarone, the inspiration and reason this whole thing happened.

We hope you like the book. It’s available on Amazon, and anywhere else books are sold. But the other thing that is readily available is a free author visit! Carol would love to visit your school, and with every author visit, copies of the book are donated to your library!

The whole point of the book was to shout out to the world what it’s like to live with CMT, what it’s like to live with a disability, and to create a more comfortable, open, supportive environment for kids like Arlene. Carol Liu is not only an author, she’s also a clinical social worker with decades of experience working with young people on the very social issues explored in this book: developing a positive self-image, appreciating differences, and negotiating peer relationships.

To accomplish our goals, we have to continue just how we started: with a moment of connection. Contact us today about an author visit, or just to talk.  And browse our Author Blog, where we write about what’s going on, where we’ve been, and things on our mind. We hope to connect with you soon!