"Christine Kindberg's fiction explores the complexity of identity, love, and faith with extraordinary intimacy and skill."
—Naeem Murr, author of The Perfect Man (long-listed for the Man Booker Prize)
Now available
in paperback, ebook
and audiobook!
Winner of The Christy Award for Young Adult!
Honorable Mention for the Selah Award in the Young Adult category!
Honorable Mention for the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award!
The Means That Make Us Strangers
Home is where your people are. But who are your people?
Adelaide has lived her whole life in rural Ethiopia as the white American daughter of an anthropologist. Then her family moves to South Carolina, in 1964.
Adelaide vows to find her way back to Ethiopia, marry Maicaah, and become part of the village for real. But until she turns eighteen, Adelaide must adjust to this strange, white place that everyone tells her is home. Then Adelaide becomes friends with Wendy and the four other African-American students who sued for admission into the white high school. Even as she navigates her family's expectations and her mother's depression, Adelaide starts to enjoy her new friendships, the chance to learn new things, and the time she spends with a blond football player. Life in Greenville becomes interesting, and home becomes a much more complex equation.
Adelaide must finally choose where she belongs: the Ethiopian village where she grew up, to which she promised to return? Or this place where she's become part of something bigger than herself?
“An extraordinary and original novel... A deftly crafted and impressively entertaining story from first page to last.”
“Powerful... Teen readers interested in the civil rights era will be enthralled by this nuanced story of race relations in the 1960s American South, seen through the eyes of a white girl raised in Ethiopia.”
“Entertaining and engaging... Adelaide is a wonderful protagonist.”
Join Me for a Glimpse Behind the Scenes as I Work on My Next Book!
Check out my Substack “Writing Fireland,” where I’m sharing bits and pieces of the research behind my next novel, set in Tierra del Fuego from the 1860s to the 1970s. Free posts dive into my unapologetically nerdy fascination with people, places, technology, and cultural developments related to the southernmost tip of South America during this time period. In the more intimate setting of paid posts, I’m sharing personal stories of my research trip to Chile and Argentina.
Upcoming Events!
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Other Writings
"Stephen dreams of visiting heaven" (short story)
When anyone asked Stephen what he wanted to be when he grew up, Stephen always answered, “Astronaut.” He wanted to say cosmonaut because he thought that sounded better, but his parents had told him that was what the Soviets said so it could cause trouble.
—> Nominated for a Pushcart Prize!
"Independent" (Short story)
She hesitated at the curb, waiting for the light, and watched the words on the festival banner snap in the slight wind. Celtic Fest Chicago. Her handhold on Sheana reminded Abby of kindergarten and her first school bus, only she was the mother now. She wondered briefly if he would be here as well. The thought, and the place, made her hands sweat.
“Alejandro” (Short Story)
Their parents had encouraged Alex to embrace his birth heritage. But on their trip to Peru when Alex was nine, everyone smiled when they saw his family—and then they’d spot him. Their smiles would waver with questions they didn’t voice.
—> Won Honorable Mention for a Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Writers!
"Cachipún" (Essay)
When people ask me where I'm from, I have no answer. I hate this question. Strangers always expect a city and state, preferably somewhere they've been. But I have to tell my life story--measured, as it is for me, in countries.
“Archipelago” (essay)
What no one can tell just by looking at me is that I’ve been fluent in Spanish since I went to kindergarten. How would they know I was born in Peru and was raised in Chile and Panama? Even if I carried my passport on my sleeve, one glance at the US passport cover wouldn’t tell them anything.
“The Taste of Blackberries” (Essay)
People had warned me that returning to my childhood home might be a disappointment. Places change, they said. Buildings get torn down, fields get paved and become parking lots. The people you cared about move away. It will never be the same as you remembered.