Local teens self-publish young adult novel

A pair of Olympus Junior High School students have turned a "random" idea into the beginning of a young-adult book series. Seventh-graders Alina Khangura of Granite Bay and Lucille "Lulu" Frieders of Folsom recently self-published their first fictional novel on Amazon, titled "The Chaos Quartet: The Stars Align." The idea for a novel came about during a science class. "It was really just a random idea," said Khangura, who will be 13 before the school year ends. "We just decided we wanted to start writing. It started on a Google Doc and just kind of happened." The Google Doc took a four-month journey from start to finish. Khangura and Frieders, 13, drew inspiration from multiple outlets. "We've both always loved to read, especially fantasy books," Frieders said. "So we got a lot of inspiration from those." Said Khangura, "I was always really attracted to the 'Hunger Games' books and also the 'Divergent' trilogy. Those were a few stories I really enjoyed." The girls describe their book as a "thrilling fantasy novel," that chronicles four troubled girls' journeys as they recover from mysteriously related accidents. As the story unfolds with chaos and drama, readers experience moments of "heartbreaking truths and intriguing backstories guaranteed to satisfy their hunger for adventure." After editing and re-editing draft after draft after draft, Khangura and Frieders self-published their book through Kindle Direct Publishing. Since its April 6 release date, the book has sold more than 60 paperback copies. While Khangura and Frieders say they would love to have their novel known throughout Placer County, there is more to their mission. "We also want to inspire young women to be more confident," Frieders said. "We're working on building up a lot of positive influences in our series." "The Stars Align" is the first of what is intended to be a four-part series of "The Chaos Quartet." Khangura and Frieders are also self-promoting their work through various local news outlets and through social media. While they continue to work on a website for their book, their primary platform has been on Instagram under the handle @chaos.quartet.book. Writing for the second installment of the four-part series is underway. Khangura and Frieders hope to have that edition available by the summer. "The Chaos Quartet: The Stars Align" is available for $9.99 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0921YVPPM?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860.