Westlake teacher tells tale of high school heroes

Mascia unveils first in a series of fantasy fiction

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010

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What starts out as a typical story set in a high school, filled with stereotypical jocks and cheerleaders, nerds and band geeks, transforms into a heroic tale in "High School Heroes" by Westlake High School English teacher James Mascia.

Christine Carpenter, a 15-year-old sophomore at Thomas Jefferson High School — Home of the Jaguars — in Jefferson Hills, Pa., discovers she has the power to read minds on the first day of school.

Reading minds is cool, right?

Well, not for Christine. She's able to hear everyone's thoughts and they all run together to sound like a fuzzy radio station, which often leaves her distracted and unable to concentrate in class. That is, until she learns how to turn it off and on.

Throughout the story, Christine, a "goth chick," learns to cope with her power. She learns that although it may be helpful to read people's minds, it's not always the best decision and can end up hurting people's feelings.

Christine meets other students who also possess superhero powers. For example, Ethan Everett, the star football player and Christine's love interest, can run at the speed of light. He tries to convince Christine to use her power in valiant ways to save other people who are in dire situations, such as a school fire and a bank robbery, even if it means it could put her at risk or get her in trouble.

Shauna Hurley, a former student of Mascia's, said she loved the book.

"I read it while I was aiding his class, and every day I was excited to get there and see what was going to happen. It started off as something to do because I was bored and ended up being [one] of those books I just couldn't stop reading."

She said one of her favorite parts in the book was when Mr. Quinn, a science teacher, showed the teenagers where their powers came from.

The idea for the book originated after someone at a convention pointed out that there are a lot of comics relating to superheroes but not really any prose fiction, Mascia said.

It started as a series of four or five short stories that were published in A Thousand Faces, a quarterly magazine of superhuman fiction, and evolved into a novel.

"There was so much to tell," Mascia said. "Why not make it into a novel?"

The book is "for anybody who ever wanted to be a superhero," he said, "for anyone who ever thought they were special in some way."

It is the first of at least four books planned for a series, with the second book in the final editing stage.

Mascia, 29, of Waldorf previously wrote "The Island of Dren," a fantasy story about a boy who washes up on a magical island and is trained to be an assassin for the evil King Veren.

"I enjoy fantasy because anything can happen," he said.

He said he always wanted to be in the artistic field and enjoys writing and making films.

To learn more

Go to www.islandofdren.com and share your real-life high school hero story for a chance to win a copy of James Mascia's "High School Heroes" and a $35 gift card. Stories must be submitted by Sept. 30.

The book is available online at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and at Mascia's website previously mentioned.

Mascia will be at the Holiday Shopping Spree Vendor Show on Oct. 3 at the Hollywood Volunteer Fire Department, 24801 Three Notch Road, Hollywood. On Oct. 23, he will be at the Waldorf Harvest Festival at the Festival Way shopping center, 2975 Festival Way.