Santa Clarita author Kristina Kuzmič wins Christopher Award

Santa Clarita, Calif-based author Kristina Kuzmič won a Christopher Award for the book “I Can Fix This: And Other Lies I Told Myself While Parenting My Struggling Child (Viking/Penguin Random House). It is one of 12 books for adults and young people as the Christopher Awards program marks its 76th year.

The Awards celebrate authors, illustrators, writers, producers and directors, whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflect the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”

The book tells the story of the emotionally charged and eye-opening account of a mother who navigates the cacophony of best practices and urgent advice from parenting authorities in search of a way to support her teen as he maps his own path to mental health.

When the author started to see signs that her otherwise sunny, resilient teenage son was struggling, she was sure a few simple fixes could right the ship. But over the following months, the issues her family faced became more nuanced, complicated, and pervasive than she could’ve predicted—and what began as a clear to do list spiraled into an emotionally fraught and seemingly endless push and pull between signs of progress and overwhelming fear. Kuzmič’s book debunks ten “parenting truths” that kept her in crisis, and delves into her insecurities and the mistakes she made to reveal invaluable lessons and transformative approaches that worked.

While her family stands on the other side now stronger than ever, Kuzmič’s journey calls to parents who have felt the instinct to say “I can fix this” in situations where good intentions far exceed their abilities to enact change.

Kuzmič never anticipated being a cheerleader for her fellow humans, but after immigrating to America from Croatia during the war in her homeland and later facing challenges such as divorce, single parenting, poverty, and mental health challenges, her goal became clear: to be for others what she needed when she was at her lowest. Now, with well over one billion video views, Kristina is providing her audience with encouragement, hope and humor in a role she never expected to fill.

Since working with Oprah who called her the “it plus girl” in 2011, Kuzmič has branched out on her own, creating videos about juggling all of life’s challenges, and encouraging her audience to prioritize their mental health. She has over 2.9 million Facebook followers and over 900,000 Instagram followers.

A sought-after international keynote speaker she has also completed two comedy tours, performing in over 60 cities across US and Canada. Her first book, Hold On But Don’t Hold Still, has been translated to eight languages

Christopher Awards were also given to creators of 9 TV/Cable shows and feature films. They celebrate authors and illustrators as well as writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” which also guides the organization’s publishing and radio programs.

Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications, said, “Our award-winning stories, both true and fictional, highlight people who have the odds stacked against them, but who face their challenges with faith and perseverance, allowing them to move through the darkness into the light and serve a higher purpose than themselves. In other words, these books, films, and TV programs don’t just engage and entertain; they teach, they heal, and they inspire.”

The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.

Social media: #ChristopherAwards, Facebook: The Christophers / X: @ChristophersInc