Teen Author Will Autograph Books at Crossroads

When Kameron Struer was in the fourth grade, he received a class assignment to write a story about Christmas.

The Marina resident took a creative license and penned a tale called “Simon the Snowball”, an adventure story of an anamorphic snowball as it travels through the water cycle.

Now an eighth grader at in Watsonville, the story has been published into an illustrated children’s book. Struer, 13, will be presenting it at from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“I thought I would write a fun story,” Struer, who is interested in physics and chemistry, said about the origins of the book. At $8 per copy, a quarter of the proceeds also go to the Monterey County SPCA.

The book, he said, is geared towards children 3 to 7, aiming to break down everyday uses of water. For example—in one scene Struer says is especially applicable to Watsonville—a drop of water is sucked through an irrigation pipe before being dispersed onto a field of vegetables.

“I am now flying through the air watering all the yummy fruits and vegetables for people to eat,” reads the text as a drop of water with large eyes falls upon a corn field.

He published the book with the help of his mother, Dawn Struer. “It’s an extremely clever and outstanding children’s story,” she said.

A couple years after Struer wrote the story, Dawn took it to Tate Publishing, which is based in Oklahoma. The company requires their authors to pay a small fee up front to publish their first book, which they return to them after 5,000 copies of the book are sold. The second book is free to publish.

“It allows unknown authors to publish their books,” said Dawn.

Now Struer is in the process of penning a second children’s book. In the meantime, he is doing readings at local bookstores and elementary schools, reading the story to young children before signing copies for them. He recently was interviewed by KION Central Coast News.

Copies of the book will be on sale at Saturday’s reading. Crossroads is in the shopping center of the sane name at Main Street and South Green Valley Road. You can also order the books online at simonthesnowball.com, as well as BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.