St. Mary’s High School English teacher Heather Ruhland ’01 can add a new title to her résumé: published children’s author. Her picture book, Ginger’s Journey, is now on sale at Barnes & Noble.
The book was written by a St. Mary’s teacher and illustrated by her former student Megan O’Brien ’20. It’s a story about love, gratitude and the little things, and it came together through the kind of teacher-student partnership that happens every day in our classrooms.
It started with a dream
Ruhland has spent her career sharing her love of reading and writing with St. Mary’s students, but she had never pictured herself writing a book. Then one night she dreamed about her dog, Ginger.
“I teach English, love English, love plays and theater and stuff like that, but it never crossed my mind until I had that dream of Ginger as a puppy looking through a cloud, finding me in a park,” Ruhland said. “I woke up and I just journaled it down, because I was like, that’s kind of fun to think of.”
A few days later, she kept coming back to the idea. “I was like, that would make a really cute children’s book about how Ginger picked me.”
How Ginger picked her
The story in the book is true to life. Ruhland says that when she went to adopt Ginger, Ginger was the one who did the choosing.
“When I went to adopt her, I walked in the room and I said, ‘Who wants to be my little Ginger?’ and she came running to me,” she said. “I picked her up, and that was it.”
A student brings the story to life
To illustrate the book, Ruhland turned to someone she already knew well: her former student Megan O’Brien, a 2020 St. Mary’s graduate.
“Megan O’Brien is one of the greatest students that I have ever had, as far as artistic talent,” Ruhland said. “I asked her if she thought it would be something she could do, and she was like, ‘Let me give it a go.'”
Megan sketched the book in about a week. “I loved it,” Ruhland said. “And I said, ‘I don’t want anything changed.’ And that was it.”
Ruhland admits that kind of trust doesn’t come easily to her. “I’m a very picky person. I like to be in control, so if I could be an artist, I would love to do it myself, but there’s no way,” she said. “For whatever reason, I trusted Megan implicitly with this whole project, and it was fantastic.”
Love in the little things
Ginger’s Journey follows Ginger as she searches for what love really is, and finds it in everyday moments that are easy to overlook.
“Everything in the world that you experience on a day-to-day basis that you overlook means something,” Ruhland said. “That’s basically what Ginger’s journey is about: looking for what love is in the little things. Just playing in the snow, that’s a lot of fun. Having a little treat, that’s fun. That’s love.”
“At the end of the day, when you go to bed at night, that’s all that matters,” she added. “If you’re happy and you feel loved.”
It’s a message about gratitude and not taking life’s simple gifts for granted. That message fits the Catholic values St. Mary’s students live out every day.
The St. Mary’s difference
Ruhland’s story shows what sets St. Mary’s apart. She walked these halls as a member of the Class of 2001, came home to teach, and now she has created something lasting alongside a fellow Lancer she once taught.
Our teachers don’t just teach a subject. They lead by example, notice the gifts in each student, and give those students real chances to use them. When a teacher trusts a student with her own story, and the student rises to the challenge, that’s a St. Mary’s education at work.
Congratulations to Mrs. Ruhland ’01 and Megan ’20 on this accomplishment!
Get the book: Ginger’s Journey is available now at Barnes & Noble.