King Real is a unique and captivating adventure novel for young adults. The story follows the mysterious Fibonacci Spiral through the eyes and lives of students from “Nolan Heights”, Gifted and Talented Academy in New Jersey. The students discover the intelligent design of the Universe through their curiosity and scientific pursuit.

In a hopeless world of lost teenage identity, depression and anxiety the characters in the book discover the purpose of their existence. This purpose is revealed through astute observation of nature and the cosmos, unique friendships, mysteries, a motivating teacher and personal life tragedies.  The stories of four children, seemingly unlike and disparate, merge in a surprising way. Death of the loved ones becomes an inspiration and a part of life in a beautiful but not frightening way. That’s the essential life lesson that the teenagers need to hear.

The mysteries begin from Part I and spin through the story until the final resolutions are revealed and explained. Plots intertwine in the most intricate way. Curious minds will not have enough of the book and will want a sequel that is already in making. I am confident that the population of young adults that lacks curiosity will be encouraged to develop it through the pages of my book.

The story in the novel spans six months. It takes place in West Orange, New Jersey where all the main characters reside. It develops the stories and the characters of four children: Martha, the Mayor’s daughter, Derek, the son of the renowned scientist, Sonia, a blind teenager and Jack, an autistic boy with an acute sense of problem-solving. Jack, a socially awkward child with a tender heart, has a brain wired for science and design. Mrs. Makovski, the teacher from Gifted and Talented Academy, daily challenges students and serves as a pivotal character in uniting the youngsters through projects, conversations and adventures. They have her trust and embrace her leadership.  Each child has a personal struggle; their families are not perfect but their tender hearts and curious minds unite them in strong and tight friendships. The strength of those friendships allows them to see the world and its Designer in a new light, and see the purpose of their life that is bigger than their mundane activities. In my book adults are transformed and inspired by the children, they are challenged by their unabashed questioning. 

The spiral symbol based on the Fibonacci numbers, rectangles and the shape of the spiral is revealed not only in the world around us and the cosmos above us.  It is present as well from the first chapters of the book in the spiral staircase, in the spiral shape of the ring of the deceased wife of the scientist who died in an earthquake, in the design of the garden.

Many questions from the past cause a lot of flashbacks that make my novel very unique and captivating. Even the deceased wife of the scientist, in a flash from the past, speaks about events that her husband never knew and he is just about to discover through his travels to Puerto Rico Island. 

The mystery elements include a puzzling letter from the girl whose life was saved by an American doctor. Secret spiral motive in the ring of the scientist’s wife, and the boxes that she had left in the closet are some of the examples that reveal the purpose of her life yet to be discovered by her son and husband. Outside of the most symbolic element of the Fibonacci Spiral other examples of symbolism and allegory include the loud voice of el coqui, a tiny frog with a powerful voice joined in concordance with thousands of other coquis of the island of Puerto Rico and the small, insignificant waterfall with its powerful energy of Niagara Falls.

A South African rancher story intertwines in an intricate way with the life of Mrs. Makovski, the teacher, and then with the lives of all the students that are invited to travel to South Africa’s East Cape. 

A subtle romance begins later in the book. The widower scientist, Mr. Howell, the father of one of the protagonists, displays a profound dislike for the language teacher in an aggressive way. In the final chapters, however, transformed by discoveries from the past, Richard Howell begins a close friendship with Sara Makovski who also lost her husband. The pain that they both experienced creates a bond discovered at the time when they unite in taking students to South Africa to encourage students’ desire to pursue the search of the Spiral.

A South African rancher story intertwines in an intricate way with the life of Mrs. Makovski, the teacher, and then with the lives of all the students that are invited to travel to South Africa’s East Cape. 

The title King Real is fully explained in the very last chapter but the reader will have a sense of the double entendre and a glimpse to its significance through the storyline that naturally references Shakespeare's play. The play King Lear, staged by the school, casts Martha as Cordelia and brings surprising parallels from the life of the Mayor’s daughter and the relationship with her father.

Our children suffered globally through the pandemic isolation. They lost energy and enthusiasm that needs to be restored. Special friendships that form throughout the novel unite teenagers from different backgrounds and nationalities in global awareness. The beauty of three islands, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, as well as the final stage of the adventures in South Africa, give my book an exotic flavor. It encourages travel and exploration and keeps readers' interest at its height due to perilous adventures and encounters with lions, giraffes and boas.

The unique symbolism of my novel will become a topic of conversation at every teenage and educators’ gathering and every book club. Unknown to most of the readers, the so far obscured Fibonacci spiral will become the symbol of curiosity, revelation, and inspiration. Readers who normally do not share the same interests will quickly find that the golden ratio is something they have in common. It is omnipresent. It dominates the cosmos, nature, plants and animal world. It is part of our human body, part of our brain, our DNA; it is found in our ear and skeletal structure. It is in us and it is around us, spread above us in its galactic proportions. It is part of the musical compositions and art designs.

How does my book stand out in comparison to other books that boast adventure and science? King Real was not written just to entertain. It motivates, it shows the way, it points to solutions, and it reveals the purpose of life and answers existential questions that teenagers ask all the time. Books of seemingly the same genre like The George’s Secret Key to the Universe written by Lucy Hawking, the daughter of the renowned scientist, fade away in the light of the depth of my novel.  A young adult reading King Real wants to become one of my characters, desires more from life and becomes transformed into a more energized, compassionate, curious and generous human being. Reading my novel is an experience and upon completing it, an average and mediocre is no longer an option. You are transformed and you want to act on its inspiration. King Real will be able to find its way to schools classrooms and school libraries; it will be discussed in science and literature classes. Drama teachers will turn my narrative into a school play. 

My novel will serve as a movie script where the beauty of nature will be displayed in scenes like Martha’s swim with dolphins in the wild, Jamaican nature exploration, Puerto Rican El Yunque National Park adventures with boa attack, Sonia’s accident on the frozen Canadian Lake Louise, frightening lions’ and giraffes’ encounters with the students in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Fibonacci Spiral in nature will become a picturesque symbol of curiosity in any gifted school milieu, book clubs and discussion groups.

Book advertising is already in the making by dedicated students and parents from the Travis Academy Magnet School in Dallas where I currently teach. Travis Academy PTA will promote the book through Facebook. My students will create a blog to connect to young adults from other states. The scientist from Indiana, John Clayton, whose series inspired me to write this novel, already agreed to post King Real on his popular website www.doesgodexist.org.