Erin Nolan-Tella ’98 publishes children’s book about travel
Travels with Grace is about a bicultural, bilingual girl living in Mexico City. She loves to travel and learn new things. Her cousin comes to visit from the United States, and the family takes him on a week’s worth of tours around the city, including museums, archaeological sites, and churches. The book discusses language, food, culture, and important places in Mexico City.” Nolan adds, “It’s important to me that readers and their parents can get a glimpse of all the wonderful sights and sounds that Mexico City has shown my family and me. It really is a vibrant place. We are constantly learning and seeing new sights.”
In December 2003, Erin Marie Nolan-Tella (author Erma Note), class of 1998, packed her bags and left everyone and everything she knew in the suburbs of Chicago. She flew to Mexico City and spent the next 13 months volunteering as a teacher in an orphanage. She never imagined that 15 years later, she would still be in Mexico. Holding a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis, Nolan decided she was ready to add to her career as an editor and translator by publishing her first book. Now raising three daughters with her husband in Mexico, Erin was inspired to write “Travels with Grace.”
Taking inspiration from her own life and travels, Nolan says, “After fifteen years of having lived in five different cities in Mexico with my husband and now our children, I wanted to share with readers everywhere a hint of what I have enjoyed and discovered with my family on our excursions. We always have tons of friends and family members from across the world come to visit us, and so we do a lot of tours to show them the city and the many places of interest.” Nolan adds, “We first climbed to the top of a massive pyramid when our oldest daughter was just an infant. Our kids have grown up seeing amazing archaeological sites, and they have been in and out of a myriad of enriching museums since they were in diapers. ‘Travels with Grace’ also presents the idea that the more we travel gracefully, by learning about other cultures and languages, adapting to new circumstances, and interacting with people that are different from us, the more we become citizens of the world.”
Nolan affirms that her roots as a student at Regina Dominican helped her in becoming a published author. “I had so many wonderful teachers at Regina, and they really helped me become the writer that I am today. Regina also helped me form the self-confidence needed to travel the world, and my travels are what have inspired this book. Ultimately, the skills and opportunities I acquired through my years at Regina helped me follow this path.”
The book is now available globally at Halo Publishing International, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Books a Million in Hardcover for $19.95 and as an e-Book for $6.99.
