About the Book

Book: A Penny Saved

Authors: Terri Gillespie & Cynthia L. Simmons

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy & Mystery

Release Date: May 27, 2023

A Move, A Mess, A Mystery

Mason’s world turns upside down when he, his little sister, Olivia, and their mother move into their grandfather’s house.

Mason misses his cool friends. Unfortunately, R.B., the weird kid down the street, thinks he’s Mason’s new best friend.

Mason’s grandfather, a retired professor, stays in his office filled with musty, dusty books. Never realizing there’s a magical treasure hidden in plain sight. An 1860 Indian Head penny, named Penny, who is alive!

When Penny goes missing, Mason helps his grandfather look for her.

Will Mason find Penny and learn her secret?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Terri

Terri Gillespie is a multi-award award-winning author and speaker and YouTube personality. Terri lives with her hubby outside Atlanta. They have one adult daughter, who lives in Chicago with her husband and son. Terri was one of the managing editors of the bestselling Tree of Life Version of the Holy Scriptures.

More from Terri

My grandson, DJ, loves to read, but there is a lack of inspirational and clean books with Black protagonists. DJ loves fantasy and mysteries, and as his safta (grandmother), I wanted a book that gives even more, a sense of legacy with a theme of looking past the exterior to the value underneath.

When the strange, awkward R.B. offers to pray for Mason’s grandfather and then brings over his granny’s tuna casserole, Mason is touched and wonders if he has misjudged R.B.

After tasting this recipe, would you change your mind?

Widow Savier’s (R.B.’s granny) Tuna Casserole

2 (5 oz.) cans chunky-type tuna in water (drain well)

1 cup frozen peas

1⁄2 cup milk

3⁄4 cup butter-Ritz-like crackers, crushed or crushed potato chips (R.B. prefers the chips)

4 oz. (about 2-1⁄2 cups) thick egg noodles

1 can (10.75 oz.) cream of mushroom soup

1⁄4 tsp. garlic powder

Bit of butter (it is the south after all)

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cook noodles according to package instructions, adding peas during the last 2 minutes of cooking; drain in strainer.
While noodles are cooking, in a separate bowl, mix together soup, milk and garlic powder.
Stir in the noodles and peas, then add the tuna.
Transfer to a 1-1⁄2 quart lightly buttered casserole.
Bake 15 minutes; top with cracker crumbs OR CHIPS. Continue baking 5 – 10 minutes or until heated through.

Serves 4, so Widow Savier doubles the recipe for Mason’s family so they have leftovers.

Author Interview

Can you share 5 random facts about you that we will not find in your bio?

I was one of the managing editors for a bestselling Bible translation, the Tree of Life Version of the Holy Scriptures (TLV).
I wrote radio spots for the Restoration of Israel which aired over twenty stations in fourteen states.
I’m related by marriage to Frederick the Great of Prussia, Vincent Price, and Rush Limbaugh.
I negotiated barge freight and managed shipments of over one million tons of petroleum coke and coal on the inland waterways annually.
I organized and managed an Israel tour of over ninety people.

When did you first discover you had a passion for writing?

Golly, it was probably when I was five or six years old. My grandmother was my best friend and a spellbinding storyteller. I remember while my brothers and cousins played outside, I sat on the porch swing with Grandma as she spun tales that sixty-five years later, I still remember.

Somehow, she could see the writer in me. Which was discerning because I had challenges with reading that took decades to overcome.

The definitive moment for me was when Grandma set an ancient Royal typewriter atop a rickety metal table, with a small stack of paper and said, “Write.” My first “publication” on that old typewriter was Jilly the Teddy Bear (1959). That ignited the fire to write and the hope that maybe I could see a book with my name—not bound with tape.

What drew you to your chosen genre?

As a new mommy, I wanted to write children’s books. Nothing ever published. In 2008, I wrote a women’s devotional based on one of my most popular women’s retreat messages, Making Eye Contact with God. Shortly after, I wrote contemporary women’s novels (which I’ll probably always write) because I love the company of women of God whose journeys inspire me. Then along came A Penny Saved and I returned to my roots of storytelling for children.

If you had to describe your main character(s) in just three words, what would they be?

Thoughtful. Intelligent. Curious.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

Cynthia (my co-author) and I hope that young people will come away with a seed of empathy that will grow and bear fruit. That they—like young Mason—will look more closely at others and see the treasure in each one—even if they are different or initially seem strange. Plus, we hope history will come alive in the stories of Mason’s ancestors and Miss Penny’s wealth of knowledge and experience.

Where can readers follow along to see what’s coming next?

Cynthia and I are working on book two of the Penny series, working title, A Penny for Your Dreams. To follow the progress of Mason and Penny’s next story, my newsletter and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/terri.gillespie.author/ reels will provide updates.

The newsletter is published every month with updates on my writing, a brief devotion, information on that month’s featured author interview on my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@TerriGillespieAuthorforAuthors series A2A, giveaway winners, and all sorts of helpful links. To subscribe to the newsletter, head on over to my website. https://authorterrigillespie.com/