From Bangkok Shanties To YA Graphic Novels

In this inspiring episode of the Reading With Your Kids Podcast, Jed welcomes Renee Nault from Vancouver Island to celebrate her YA romance graphic novel Salvage. Set in a future reshaped by climate change, Salvage follows Paulo, a teen who lives on the tidal flats scavenging from drowned cities. When he discovers a suitcase full of designer clothes, he sneaks into the wealthy uplands for "just one night" and unexpectedly falls in love—forcing him to juggle class divides, secrets, and the ticking clock on his double life.

Renee shares how living outside Bangkok, Thailand, riding past riverside shacks on stilts, first sparked the idea for this powerful story about inequality, privilege, and the dreams of young artists. She talks about working entirely old-school with pen and paper, how she "thinks in pictures," and why all her characters are, in some way, different parts of herself. Listeners will especially appreciate her honesty about class frustration, artistic ambition, and how those emotions shaped Paulo's anger and passion.

Jed and Renee also explore how Salvage can open up rich family conversations about climate change, social media, class, friendship, and making things right when we've hurt someone.

In the second half of the show, Jed chats with Gayle Veitenheimer and Jen Weaver, co-authors of The Kingswell Kid Detective Series. They introduce The Mystery of the Missing Falls, a faith-based middle grade mystery featuring cousins, secret maps, Cherokee history, and gentle, accessible conversations about prayer, hearing God, and growing in faith together as a family.