Mattituck Freshman, 15, Publishes Debut Novel Inspired by Nomadic Childhood

Maddie Peterson has attended schools in Greenport, Oysterponds, Mattituck and, come spring break, Southold. Before Long Island, she lived in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Idaho and Colorado, moving across the country in an RV while most kids her age were planting roots. That nomadic childhood gave the Mattituck High School freshman her material.

Peterson, 15, released her debut novel, She Had Faith, on March 30. The book took nearly two years to write and is self-published through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing platform, available in paperback, hardcover and Kindle editions.

The novel follows a protagonist named Maeve through a coming-of-age story structured so that each chapter represents a different grade level, tracking her growth over time. Themes of family, resilience and the search for stability run throughout; the book ends on a cliffhanger, and Peterson has not ruled out a sequel.

"She is building, throughout the book, a faith in herself and a sense that she can be her own person, that her home isn't who she is," Peterson said. "The faith part in the title is not just for religious people. I feel like my book expresses that not everyone is the same."

Getting the book to print was not simple. Peterson cycled through three cover designs before settling on the final version, one drawn by a friend and another she created herself. Amazon's KDP platform allows authors as young as 13 to self-publish, provided they work with a parent or guardian who holds the account.

The teachers who watched Peterson move through Mattituck's halls have become her most vocal supporters. Jacqui Portocarrero, an English teacher who taught Peterson in seventh grade and again this year, said the talent was visible from the start. "When she told me she was working on a book, I was surprised only because she is so young, but she has what it takes to write just about anything," Portocarrero said.

Earth science teacher Charles Henke read a finished draft in December and immediately put it in front of his whole household. "I couldn't believe it, it was so good," he said. "I made my daughter read it, and my wife read it. I think that everybody should read that. Kids need to read that."

English teacher and tennis coach Michelle Koch pointed to an earlier sign of Peterson's gifts: a poetry assignment in which the student not only wrote the poem but painted a sunset canvas and hand-lettered the words onto it. Koch still keeps the piece. "Writing a book, putting yourself out there, and being so vulnerable is such a brave thing to do," Koch said. "I truly believe she's just getting started. I'm already one of her biggest fans." Tech teacher Steve Lavinio described the novel as a "page-turner" that "pulls the reader in," adding that he was "shocked and intrigued by the maturity level and intense storyline she had come up with."

Peterson's ambitions extend well beyond the North Fork. "I want to make it into a movement," she said. "I want to take stories from other people, from boys and girls around the world who don't have voices. I want kids to feel like they can amount to something and that they do have a voice, when sometimes it doesn't feel like they do."

She Had Faith is available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover and Kindle editions, with local East End signings planned. After spring break, Peterson transfers to Southold High School, her seventh school before she is old enough to drive. The book ends on a cliffhanger. So, in some ways, does her story.