Blaine Middle School student publishes dystopian novel

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There are many things 14-year-old Kaatri Glanzer enjoys doing outside her Blaine Middle School curriculum. She attends dance classes, practices clarinet and likes to play with her Golden-doodles, Indie and Jax. But in between her ordinary middle school endeavors, Kaatri has also managed to accomplish an extraordinary goal for her age: Writing a novel.

Kaatri self-published her first novel, “The White Scandal,” on August 12 and is already gearing up for future novels to come.

“I think it’s really cool because people get to see my hard work that I put in the last couple of years and that feels real to me,” Kaatri said.

“The White Scandal” is a 218-page science fiction book that centers around two sisters, Cadence and Ellie, living in a pandemic-stricken world. The plot follows Cadence’s journey to find Ellie, who has superpowers, after she is kidnapped.

“I wanted to write the perspective of two young girls who are living in a time like we are now, and how challenging that can be, especially if one has special powers that are hard to control,” Kaatri said.

The young author said she started brainstorming her novel three years ago in fifth grade. Her love for reading blossomed in early elementary school after reading series like “Harry Potter” and “Shatter Me,” which are a few of the hundreds of books that line her bookshelves at home.

Kaatri wrote half the novel over the past few years but ramped up writing when the pandemic started and finished the second half of the book in five months, said her father, Brandon Glanzer.

Through writing the novel, Kaatri was introduced to Kelli Estes, a local author who has published “Today We Go Home” and “The Girl Who Wrote in Silk,” and whose books have appeared on the USA Today bestsellers list. Estes consulted Kaatri on ideas and read Kaatri’s first draft. Brandon then agreed to be Kaatri’s publisher, where he’d help give her ideas, she’d write more, he’d edit and give her more ideas.

Brandon, who is a seventh grade language arts and social studies teacher at Blaine Middle School, said he saw talent in Kaatri when she’d write 20-page stories.

“[Writing] is something I know a little bit about and have some passion for,” Brandon said. “A lot of it’s been transferred to her before she even knew what I did as a job.”

Kaatri’s writing was published in Young Reporters, a section in The Northern Light that ran for eight weeks starting April 21, which her father said helped her visualize that she could be published. “That helped motivate her, too, in this process to come to an end point because when you’re in the middle of it, you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get,” Brandon said.

Kaatri said she wants her next book to be realistic fiction in third person with a male main character because she wants to explore writing in those perspectives.

“We’re excited to read the next book,” Brandon said. “And then next one after that and the next one after that.”

To purchase a copy of the $28 book, visit https://bit.ly/32VEMLp.

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