Summary:

Jessie and The Kindness Beads entails a young girl named Jessie, who loves art and keeps to herself on most days. She also cares about her school community, and always seeks to help others. Jessie's one main obstacle though is that she is bullied daily on her school bus and around school because she is different than others. Jessie is also determined to help her school with a fundraiser for her school's theater. Therefore, she embarks on a special quest making kindness bead necklaces to help her school with the help of her best friends, Selena and Cody.

One morning as Jessie is setting up in the park for her spring art event to sell her beads, she endures a major bullying incident by one of her classmates. Readers will be taken on a heartfelt and adventurous journey as Jessie musters up the courage to speak up for herself along with teaching a lesson of embracing and respecting the differences in others. This is Torres's first children's book. Jessie and The Kindness Beads is also available in Spanish.