The Lumpy Duckling

by Kai Strand

A wish. A waterfall. A tragic outcome. Can one girl save her best friend from herself? Or will she have to sacrifice their friendship?

Wheezy doesn’t have a lot in common with her best friend, Lumpy, but he makes her laugh. It breaks her heart that people tease him over his appearance. When she meets a strange little gnome-elf who promises her one wish, she makes her wish for Lumpy.

But tragedy strikes immediately after and Lumpy ends up recovering in a hospital faraway. While Wheezy worries she’s responsible for his circumstances, she also revels in how much closer they are becoming as pen pals.

When Lumpy returns to The Tales completely transformed into a new person on the outside, Wheezy knows he won’t want to remain her best friend. And she has no one to blame but herself – and her wish.

Can Wheezy learn to like the handsome Lumpy or is she destined for a future alone?

The Lumpy Duckling is a story of friendship and expectation. If you like Ugly Duckling retellings, this story is for you.

81 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2025

About the author

Thanks for your interest in my books and me. I love talking books with readers and hope you’ll share your thoughts on my books by leaving a review and/or dropping me an email. It’s easiest to get a hold of me through my website (kaistrand.com). Perhaps you clicked on my bio to find out things about me, such as I hate to handle raw meat, I’m a wife and mother of four, a compulsive walker, and a Mozart fangirl. But since you stopped by, what I really want you to know is that I love that you read. Readers are smart, quick-witted, and usually good conversationalists—even if it’s only in their head. Introverts unite!

I write middle grade fiction because those are the most formative years of our lives. It’s when we are trying to claim our freedom, while still being restricted by rules. The things we learn in books can give us the skills to navigate that maze. I write young adult fiction because there are no limits to what message I share or how I share it. Plus young adult readers are some of the most passionate readers out there. I heart YA readers.

If you’d like an image of me as a writer, go ahead and picture me with my laptop in a quaint bookshop café, fingers flying over the keys while the words pour out of my fingertips. It’s much better than the real image of me in my pajamas with coffee breath, sinking into the me-sized crater in the couch, grumbling at my laptop when the words don’t come.

Read an interview with Kai here on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...