Bolden's first major book project, a young adult novel adaptation of Vy Higginsen’s musical Mama, I Want to Sing, was published in 1992 by Scholastic. Bolden has argued that this opportunity came about in part because of the work she had put in on smaller pieces and in part good fortune. She says, “Marie Brown, my agent at the time, pitched me to Vy Higginsen and to Scholastic,” and the experience went so well that “the editor talked about my doing another book for her.” Thus, she remembers, “writing for the young found me and I found myself loving it more and more.”
