Contributed by Sharon Aubrey, Relevant Publishers LLC.
The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, hosted by the Jenkins Group, is a national competition celebrating exemplary children’s books for over 14 years. Winners were selected for 30 different categories in October, including a local Alaskan author. Me-Now, The Adventures of Mickey the Mushing Cat, a children’s chapter book, won first place. It received the Gold Award in the Animals/Pets Fiction category. Me-Now was written by Kasilof author, Leon S. Mensch, and published by Relevant Publishers LLC of Sutton, Alaska. The story was originally inspired by Leon’s his real life cat, Mickey, who he and his wife, Beth, rescued. The real Mickey went on many adventures and traveled from the East Coast to Alaska.
Leon’s children’s book is targeted to second through fourth grade readers and follows the life of Mickey the cat who was born a stray and abandoned in Maryland. Later, he is rescued and adopted by a family in Vermont who eventually move to Alaska. There, they open a dog sledding kennel. Mickey is an adventurous feline, who having overcome many challenges early in life, doesn’t want to be left home alone when his family is out on the trail. As any brave cat would do, he sneaks out of the house and learns to ride with the dog team. Later, Mickey accidentally ends up on the Iditarod Trail. He and his team face the harsh challenges of the Last Great Race and the other dog teams that want to eat him. Can he survive? Will his team finish the race or scratch? Young readers can find out what happens to Mickey in his first book, Me-Now.
About Relevant Publishers LLC:
Relevant Publishers LLC celebrated five years in book publishing in 2020. They have grown to include nine authors in a variety of genres: Children’s Picture Books, Jewish Children’s Fiction, Youth Chapter Books, Youth Fiction Action/Adventure, Alaskana, Memoir, Christian Ministry and Theology. For more information about Me-Now, The Adventures of Mickey the Mushing Cat or to inquire about new manuscript queries, please visit www.relevantpublishers.com.
