He's not even out of middle school yet, but Ponte Vedra student Jake Marcionette is already a New York Times bestselling author.The 13-year-old has captured readers’ hearts with his first book, Just Jake.
He’s getting national media attention with rave reviews for the tale of six-grader Jake Matthews, whose life is turned upside down when his family moves from Florida to Maryland.
Jake's "rules of awesomeness" and other humorous coping strategies help him survive the anxieties of middle school.
"My mom ruined my summer vacation by forcing me to write for at least an hour a day," Jake said. "So I came up with the story. Now I love writing."
Jake told our listeners he just started calling up literary agents in New York after finding them from a Google search. A few got annoyed–"they told me not to waste their time," he said. But one took his call, and the rest is publishing history.
I'm working on the next in the series," he said. "I don't tell my classmates about it unless they ask."
You can meet the bestselling author and Landrum Middle School student this Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Books-A-Million at Marsh Landing.
You can follow Melissa Ross on Twitter @MelissainJax.
