Nationwide — Julius Faison, a 12-year-old African American boy from New York City, enjoys reading adventurous books so much that he has written his own book about a Black superhero. When the pandemic struck and he transitioned to virtual learning, he and his mom began working on creative storytelling to further develop writing skills. One story led to the publication of his first book, Jewels and Stella: The Secret, which tells the story of Jewels, also a 12-year-old boy, his friends, and his pet bird who are fighting evil to save the world.Julius attends Durham Nativity School and lives in North Carolina with his mom, dad, brother and a host of animals, including Stella, their pet parrot. In addition to reading, he enjoys playing soccer, chess, gaming, and spending time with his family.

“It was exciting to publish this book. To be honest, when my mom said the story could turn into a book, I was skeptical but I knew she had published before. Each day we added to the story and we worked with a team to bring the book to a reality through Kindle Direct Publishing. When the actual finished book was delivered to our house, I was very proud because of my accomplishment but also because the superhero is Black. I love Greek mythology and usually, the characters are not Black so it is nice to see a character on the cover with brown skin! I plan to donate some of the profit from the sales of my book to my school, Durham Nativity which is a boys’ school with predominately Black and Latinx boys. I also plan to save and invest in new soccer equipment and in coding technology. My dream is for the book to be made into an animated movie produced by a Black company like Tyler Perry productions!”

About Jewels and Stella: The SecretWhen immersed in an online video game, a sixth-grade Black boy named Jewels Washington receives a call from a stranger. The stranger then reveals that he hacked his way into Jewel’s computer to have a conversation with him. But the things that the stranger tells him leave him completely perplexed and he is forced to question the nature of things around him.

Later, while returning from a school soccer match, Jewels, his younger brother, and his best friend get attacked by several mysterious people. Their eyes and skin glowed red in the dark. As they faced certain death against the inhuman-looking monsters, a strange flying object saves them and vanishes. Slowly mysteries around Jewel’s apparent peaceful life begin unfolding, revealing the unthinkable truth behind his strange blackouts and the secrets of his parents. But the real question is, could he ever hope to protect himself and the people he cares about from his schoolmate who declares himself as a powerful warrior from another planet? Read along as Jewels demonstrates his bravery to alter the very fate of mankind from extraterrestrial threats!