When 16-year-old Aliza Kellerman applies to college this fall, her application will be brimming with extracurricular activities. It will include an upcoming four-week program at Cambridge University, as well as the few weeks she’ll spend as a camp counselor in Santa Fe, N.M.
It will also include the young adult novel she co-wrote with her mother, Faye Kellerman, called “Prism” (272 pages, HarperCollins, $16.99). The mother-daughter duo’s six-city book tour includes a stop Monday night at the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Library. It’s no surprise that Aliza has put out a novel at such a young age: She comes from writing royalty. Faye, who is famous for her Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus mysteries, has published 25 novels and has another out soon. Dad Jonathon has published 40 books, 23 of which make up the Alex Delaware series. The 24th is due in October. Both are New York Times best-sellers. Her older brother, Jesse, is also an author and playwright.“Really, it’s no different than living in a family full of doctors or political analysts,” Aliza said by phone from her home in California. “It’s just another job.”“Prism” tells the story of a parallel universe where everything is identical to the present, except there’s no health care or medicine, and sickness is feared by all. The protagonist, Kaida, must find a way to get back to the real world by transcending clique lines and becoming close with some unlikely friends. It hit bookshelves this week.Aliza and Faye toyed with the idea of a universe that would be different in some way, but they didn’t immediately settle on the health-care twist.“It was really no more than sitting around on the couch throwing out ideas until we got something good,” said Aliza, who just completed her junior year of high school.Although they brainstormed together, Aliza did the writing, and Faye would edit along the way. “Since I was working on my own book, I said, ‘Liz, I will help you in any way you want, but you need to write the book because I cannot,’ ” Faye said. “That was the deal we made.”As for enduring the mother-daughter conflicts that are so common during teenage years, the pair worked remarkably well together in the year it took to finish the book. “The reason we work so well together is we never worked face-to-face,” Faye said. “It was all done through e-mail … when there were changes, or when there was something that needed to be said, it was void of emotional contact.”Aliza, the youngest of the Kellerman clan, is the only child still living at home in Beverly Hills. Writing is not her only talent. She enjoys painting and drawing, singing and playing the harp, and, of course, hanging out with her friends — who have welcomed her success without an ounce of jealousy.“They reacted beautifully. They were happy for me 100 percent of the time,” Aliza said.“It’s called choosing your friends well,” her mom added.At Monday’s event, they will discuss the book and also their unique partnership. Vivien Jennings, founder and president of Rainy Day Books, said the event will be interactive, instead of just a reading from the book. Although Jennings has not read “Prism,” she said members of her staff liked it. She said she is excited to sponsor the event.“We have a strong following of teenage readers, so I just thought it’d be a really fun mother-daughter event,” said Jennings, whose three granddaughters will attend.Faye’s latest Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus book, “Blindman’s Bluff,” hits bookshelves in August, but she said she enjoyed her new role as co-author.“It was very liberating because I didn’t have to write it,” Faye said. “It is so much easier to edit than to originally create it.”
SEE THE KELLERMANS
Who: Faye and Aliza KellermanWhat: Author event for their book, “Prism,” co-sponsored by Rainy Day BooksWhen: 6:30 p.m., MondayWhere: Kansas City Library, Plaza branch, 4801 Main St.More info: Free. RSVP, 816-701-3407 or www.kclibrary.org
Who: Faye and Aliza KellermanWhat: Author event for their book, “Prism,” co-sponsored by Rainy Day BooksWhen: 6:30 p.m., MondayWhere: Kansas City Library, Plaza branch, 4801 Main St.More info: Free. RSVP, 816-701-3407 or www.kclibrary.org
$15 for $30 of Food & Drink at Thomas Restaurant
