Check Out Quincy Kadin’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Quincy Kadin.

Hi Quincy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born at St. John’s Hospital and have always lived in Santa Monica.

I grew up with anxiety, as so many people do. Ever since I remember, I was isolated by it, and it wasn’t just high school; I remember back to preschool. I wasn’t always able to go to after-school activities or raise my hand in class. So, I wanted to write this book to show kids that they’re not alone in this feeling. And I wanted to create an anxiety tool that all kids could access and carry around with them to help them any time they needed it. What’s so special about Frankie’s Fishy Feelings is that it’s not just a story about anxiety. It’s a tool for navigating anxiety. So you can use it, both parents and adults, whenever you’re encountering anxious feelings. The book IS therapy because I created it alongside a children’s therapist at UCLA.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Like all creative projects, the hardest part was moving from the idea to action. But this summer, I had a panic attack boarding a flight home from Johannesburg, and the airline did not allow me to fly. Being stranded in another country far from home was a reminder of all the ways that anxiety can hold people back, and I really wanted to do something positive to help prevent that for any child who was in the same position. I hope that Frankie’s Fishy Feelings can help prevent a similar situation from happening to another child!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Nearly 32% of adolescents in the United States have an anxiety disorder. In school, this means that kids avoid socializing and group work, have trouble speaking up around things as simple as asking to go to the bathroom, and tend to have significant attendance issues. Untreated in younger kids, anxiety develops over the years, evolving into clinical depression, use of drugs, and feeling suicidal.

That is why high school student Quincy Kadin wrote Frankie’s Fishy Feelings. The book follows Frankie, a young shark anxious about her first day of “kindersharken.” After dealing with her feelings alone for some time, Frankie decides to tell her mom about her anxiety. Frankie is enrolled in therapy and learns coping mechanisms such as counting her fingers: Thumb, index, middle, ring, and little.

While the feelings don’t go away completely, Frankie learns to live with her anxiety and keep it in check. In the back of the book, readers are given a toolbox of coping mechanisms kids can use when they start to feel anxious. The book is designed as a coping tool for kids ages 4-8 – but the strategies work for any age.

Quincy hopes to get this book into the hands of as many kids as possible who will benefit from it. The book will be available in English and Spanish, and the hope is to have it available in every elementary school library in the country, starting with those that are most underfunded.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Anxiety affects 1 in 4 school-age children, and this is a tool that can help! You can help me help kids in three ways.
1. Buy a book. Share the story with your loved ones!
2. Make a donation. All dollars will go directly towards supporting
getting my book in schools.
3. Request a book. Share a school where a book would be helpful, and
I will do my very best to get it to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.frankiesfishyfeelings.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiesfishyfeelings/

Image Credits
Ben Morris