Cousins and high school seniors Evelyn and Emma Fust, both Pleasantville residents, will hold a local author meet and greet for their new book 1,000 Balloons at the Webb Shadle Public Library next Saturday at 6 pm.

The book is about cousins Arlyn and Graylin Freely, who were a part of a large family of inventors and visionaries. During one of the Freely family’s reunions on a big airship, a disaster leads to most of the family dying, with the exception of the two cousins and their uncle. Eight years after that incident, Arlyn and Graylin begin to start looking back into the disaster, trying to uncover what happened on that day. Emma said that a lot of work and time went into making the book, including writing, editing, creating the book cover artwork, and more. 

“I think it was about six years, so writing it, editing it, and rewriting it and coming up with new ideas, trying to encapsulate that in one cover after so long of working on it was a real struggle and I think that was something we definitely had a hard time with for a while. And then we also were looking into different softwares to format it and researching self publishing, and my dad helped us a lot with that.”

During the event, the public will be able to hear more about the book, purchase a copy of 1,000 Balloons, and get their copies signed by Evelyn and Emma.

To purchase a copy of 1,000 Ballons use this link. Hear more about the book from Evelyn and Emma Fust on today and tomorrow’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.