Young Author Spotlight

Hello all,

I wanted to join in celebrating the success of one of our HCOS LifeLearner students, Celeste Catena, who is having her first novel, Undefeated, published this week. Below is the Press Release from the Penticton Writers and Publishers regarding Celeste and an invite to attend her book signing this

weekend.

Well done Celeste!

P.S. To all of our young authors, please remember that HCOS accepts student work for their newsletter and would love to publish something of yours!

Penticton Writers and Publishers

4011 Finnerty Road, Penticton, British Columbia

V2A 8W2

www.penwriters.com

For Immediate Release

Celeste Catena is an author at nine years old. The young Kelowna student was the youngest contestant (8 years old) at the most recent Can West Global Spelling Bee contest held in Kelowna. She placed fifth in the field of 34 young spellers.

Yasmin John-Thorpe, a cofounder of Penticton Writers and Publishers, was the head judge at the Spelling Bee. She was impressed with Celeste’s performance during the rounds of the Bee.

“I kept saying ‘you are correct’, amazed that this young girl was still standing after so many rounds,” says John-Thorpe. “When I finally had to ‘ding’ the bell to indicate she had spelled the word incorrectly, my heart broke”.

The encounter continued when John-Thorpe approached Angela Catena, Celeste’s Mom, after the contest to ask if Celeste also liked to write.

“When I found out Celeste was not only a keen speller but an avid reader and loved to write, I invited her to enter the Young British Columbia Youth Write Contest, sponsored by our group, for a chance to attend the BC Youth Write Camp,” recalls John-Thorpe.

After the one week camp, Celeste’s mom asked the Penticton Writers and Publishers to help with publishing Celeste’s first novel, Undefeated. The group edited and published the novel, and John-Thorpe, who is the organizer of Raise a Reader has booked multiple author appearances for Celeste at schools in the South Okanagan. Celeste will make a presentation to grade 4s and 5s and the Raise a Reader program will purchase a copy of her book for each student attending the presentation.

Residents can ‘meet the newest valley author’ Celeste Catena while she autographs copies of her first novel at Mosaic Books in Kelowna on October 31, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.