“Forest Heights” Children’s Novel Previews During Festival

Bart King (the guy writing this post) is going to read from his new children’s novel “Forest Heights” around 1 p.m. on Saturday, at the conclusion of the pop-up park event taking place at Forest Heights Baptist Church from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The novel, written for middle-grade readers, is inspired by real events that took place here in the neighborhood. I finished it last summer, and I’m currently looking for the right literary agent to represent it. Here’s the pitch:

When a backyard chicken is killed, a little rescue dog with big attitude is drawn onto a collision course with wild animals living on the fringes of a suburban neighborhood.

Most people hardly know the animals are there, hunting and scavenging after dark. Winnie learns the hard way when she runs into a displaced family of raccoons, a young coyote searching for a mate (and a meal) and a surly cat that’s not quite wild, but not a cuddly pet either.

Will she be able to protect the rest of the flock? Will she realize “her” territory isn’t hers alone? Or will she just be lucky to make it through a night outside the fence?

I’ll also bring along the four picture books I created with Hampton Park’s Jacob Wenzka and will read those if the audience is too young to hear more than a chapter or two of the novel.

We’ll set up under the trees at the edge of the softball field, and then maybe the kids will be ready to go home for a nap before The Blueberry Jam gets underway at 5:30.