FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
From Rejection to Renowned: Dr. Kay Kizer’s Transformative Memoir Arrives This April
Missouri City TX – September 4, 2026 – A newborn abandoned before her first cry. A childhood spent moving through foster homes where abuse lurked in silence. A young woman who discovered her true identity not in the system that failed her but in a faith that never let her go. This is the story Dr. Kay Kizer tells in her upcoming memoir, From Rejection to Renowned, releasing April 2026.
Dr. Kizer entered the world as a ward of the state, signed over to foster care by a birth mother who barely looked at her through the nursery window. She grew up enduring psychological torment, physical beatings, and sexual abuse at the hands of those meant to protect her. For years, she carried the labels others placed on her: difficult, troubled, broken. But her life took a turn when a high school friend invited her to church camp. There she received her first Bible and encountered a love that would eventually redefine everything.
From Rejection to Renowned traces that journey from the depths of the foster care system to a life of purpose, healing, and advocacy. Dr. Kizer writes with unflinching honesty about the traumas she survived while weaving in the spiritual truths that carried her through. She does not shy away from the hard questions about loss, grief, and forgiveness. Instead, she invites readers to walk alongside her as she discovers that her story was never one of worthlessness but of undeniable value.
The core message of this book is simple yet profound: what breaks you does not have to define you. Dr. Kizer demonstrates that rejection can become a launching pad for purpose and that every person, regardless of their past, carries a story worth telling. The book speaks directly to foster care alumni, current foster youth, adoptive families, social workers, and anyone navigating the long road of trauma recovery. It also offers a powerful resource for faith communities seeking to understand how to better support children and families impacted by the system.
Dr. Kizer’s writing style is direct, vulnerable, and deeply conversational. She writes as though sitting across from a friend, sharing hard truths without pretense and offering hope without platitudes. Her voice carries the authority of lived experience paired with the warmth of a woman who has done the difficult work of healing. Readers will find themselves not merely observing her journey but reflecting on their own.
The author holds a Doctorate in Christian Leadership and Business, serves as a licensed and ordained chaplain, and is a proud veteran of the United States Army. She founded Kay’s Carry On, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring dignity to foster youth by replacing trash bags with new rolling luggage. Her mission statement says it all: Say NO to Trash Bags and YES to Rolling Luggage. She is also the visionary author behind the bestselling Faces of Foster Care anthology series.
From Rejection to Renowned will be available in April 2026 on Amazon and at all major online bookstores, as well as major retailers. Readers can preorder their copy and prepare to be moved by a story that proves the most powerful testimonies often rise from the hardest beginnings.
For more information, review copies, or to schedule an interview with Dr. Kay Kizer, please contact:
Dr. Kay Kizer
Author’s Email: Kaykizer3@gmail.com
Author Contact: 936-240-8762
About the Author
Meet Dr. Kay Kizer: a grandmother who can still march like a soldier, a chaplain who has prayed through her own darkest nights, and a woman who turned trash bags into a movement. She grew up without a single person telling her she mattered. Now she spends her life proving to foster children across America that they do. Whether she is rolling luggage into a group home or cheering on a first-time author, Kay moves with a purpose born from pain and refined by faith. A veteran, a doctor of Christian leadership, and the visionary behind Kay’s Carry On, she believes your story can change the world.
Visit her at www.kayscarryon.org.
