North Central resident Kris Ann Valdez, writing under the pen name Ann Val, celebrated the July release of her debut middle-grade novel, “Nathaniel and the Worst Project in the History of the Fourth Grade,” published by the independent press Twenty Hills.
A new novel released in July by author Kris Ann Valdez is geared toward middle-grade readers (submitted photo).
Geared towards readers ages 7 to 12, the chapter book follows fourth-grader Nathaniel Ichabod Lampley, who wakes up on the morning his science project is due only to realize he never made it. Desperate to avoid being late to school – again – Nathaniel cobbles together a last-minute diorama using stuffed animals from a neglected toy chest, his sister’s crayons and a Star Battles Trilogy shoebox.
What follows is the kind of disaster Nathaniel has come to expect. After all, misfortune has a way of finding him.
“I wrote this book to remind readers that mistakes are not the end of the world,” said Valdez. “In fact, sometimes they’re the beginning of the best stories.”
The author is currently booking school visits, bookstore storytime and library programs throughout Arizona. Her interactive presentations include a reading from the novel, a creative activity inspired by the book and a behind-the-scenes look at how an idea becomes a published story.
She also launched “The Nathaniel Library Project,” a traveling library experiment to make the book more accessible to young readers. One copy is traveling from family to family around the country. Each child “checks it out” for about two weeks, can underline and heart passages, signs its traveling library card, takes an optional photo of the book visiting their town, and sends it to the next reader. Learn more about the project under the “Middle Grade” tab at https://krisannvaldez.com.
