MARYSVILLE – She may not be J.K. Rowling or Stephen King but local author Christy Anana has her own fan base at Quil Ceda-Tulalip elementary school.
That’s where she announced a second book being published, called “Toni and the Five Best Days to Run Away,” and gave a Powerpoint presentation about the struggles of becoming an author.
She spoke to Carol Beyer’s fourth-grade class. Beyer has been reading Anana’s first book, “A Finder of Lost Things,” to her class this year because she found it to be just a little too hard for her students. They are about halfway through the 88-page, 27-chapter book.
Beyer said she uses Anana’s book to teach her class about story elements: characters, events, problems, solutions, etc.
“It makes a big difference that they know the author,” Beyer said of Anana, a counselor at the school. “It gets them excited about writing.”
It also gets them excited about reading. Student Bryce Mizell liked it so much he checked it out at the library and has read the entire book.
Bryce said he likes the adventure of the book. Toni and Jimmy find a lost boy under a deck who can’t find his parents. They go to their own parents and police for help, but can’t get any. (Spoiler alert:) It ends up only they can see the boy because he is a ghost. But when they find the boy’s family they find he is still in their hearts.
Anana said the theme of the book is we have to learn to move on, even after such devastating losses as divorce and death. The theme of the second book is bullying.
About being an author, she explained to the children that reading her books “is like having a conversation with you.” She said the characters often are similar to people she knows. She said one of the main characters, Toni, is a tomboy like Anana is.
She said early in schools she learned she loved writing and talking about feelings so her stories come from her heart. She said her dad worked two jobs and her mom worked in a factory.
“I looked up to them,” she said. “I learned if you work hard you get respect.”
Anana said she had to work hard to sell her book. Many publishers told her no. When she found a publisher, they said they wanted at least two more in the series. She works with an artist in Australia and an editor in Portland, Ore.
The book is available online on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble. She will be signing the books Nov. 5 at the University of Washington bookstore in Mill Creek.
