Stephen King is helping a group of elementary students publish a pandemic-themed book.
Stephen King: Master of Horror, Ringleader of Nightmares and . . . youth literary advocate?
It may not be the least bit spooky, but it’s true. The Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, the non-profit founded by King and his wife to support community projects in Maine, is funding the publication of a manuscript written by group of young students enrolled in the Farwell Elementary School’s Author Studies Program.
The students initially planned to fund their project through a Kickstarter campaign, but when King’s foundation caught wind of it, they stepped in to cover the $6,500 cost of publishing the 290-page manuscript.
Seventh-grader Ella Leo told WMTW News 8 Portland, “It was, like, mind-blowing.”
The budding writers studied Gary Savage’s 2016 book, Fletcher McKenzie and the Passage to Whole, and then adapted the text to mirror their experiences during the pandemic. Savage’s story follows a teenage boy from Western Maine, who attempts to find his missing mother and discover why his father fell into a coma.
Principal Amanda Winslow told the Associated Press that she is “proud of the students and their accomplishments,” and thankful to Savage, who advised the students, and school librarian Kathy Martin.
King, who recently blurbed Hunter Biden’s forthcoming memoir, will publish a new crime novel, Later, on March 2nd.
[via Rolling Stone]
