"Qwik Pick Adventure Society"

Hear author Tom Angleberger read selections from the book

• The Qwik Pick Breakroom
• Marilla Suggests We Sneak into the Sludge Fountain
• The Smells of the Sludge Fountain

Meet Tom

• What: Book signing for the "QwikPick Adventure Society." The event is part of a book fair for Hidden Valley Middle school, and a portion of proceeds from sales of the $16.99 book will go to the school. Also, Angleberger’s wife, children’s author Cece Bell, will be signing copies her "Sock Monkey" series at the same location.
• When: 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday
• Where: Barnes and Noble, Tanglewood Mall
• On the Net: www.qwikpickpapers.com

It had been a while since his visit to the Christiansburg sewage treatment plant, but Tom Angleberger couldn't flush the picture of poop from his mind.

He became fascinated with an antiquated sewage-spewing fountain while covering a story for The Roanoke Times about changes being made at the waste management facility. The fountain was part of a secondary cleansing process, in which massive amounts of air are pumped through the wastewater to help break down the solids. Angleberger's story was about how the old system would be turned off and replaced by newer technology.

It was a simple news story, but Angleberger saw the potential for much more.

"There really was this fountain aerating and shooting things around in this massive tub of very chocolate-y liquid," he said. "It was a wild day over at that sewage plant. I thought, boy, this is the best thing I've ever done for the paper ... I've got to do something more with it."

A year later, "The QwikPick Adventure Society" was born.

Angleberger's debut fiction novel, written under the pen name Sam Riddleburger, hit shelves May 10. The classic coming-of-age story with a Southwest Virginia twist chronicles the misadventures of three average, yet eclectic, "Crickenburg" seventh-graders. Finding themselves with nothing to do one Christmas day, they embark on a secret journey to the town's sewage treatment plant. Their mission: to see the "fountain of poop" in action before it gets shut down. They keep a record of their expedition, and name themselves "The QwikPick Adventure Society" after their regular hang-out spot, the QwikPick convenience store.

The firsthand accounts of Angleberger's trio -- who are neighbors at a trailer park -- work to capture the character and charm of the New River Valley, showing small town life through the eyes of a few curious kids.

"In so many ways, I really enjoyed the time I spent covering the [area] for the newspaper," said Angleberger, who now writes the "What's on Your Mind?" column for the paper as a freelancer. "I got this really full picture in my head, and it was just so natural to set a book here as another way to tell people about some of the great things I've run into and some of the great people I've met."

Angleberger incorporated hand-scribbled diary entries, comic strips, drawings, maps, and typewritten documents into each chapter of the book.

"I wanted it to look like something a kid would pile up in a drawer," he said. "It might not seem like much to anyone else, but it might be the records of the greatest day in this kid's life."

After what Angleberger describes as an "unbelievably difficult" publishing process, Dial Books for Young Readers (a division of the Penguin Group) picked up "The QwikPick Adventure Society" last year and gave him a two-book contract.

"When I first got the manuscript I was just so struck by the voice and the way the kids talked," said Nancy Mercado, senior editor at New York-based Dial Books. "The characters just seem so real. I think when you have something like this that has real voice, it's easy for it to rise to the top."

Angleberger is currently in the process of putting out his second children's book, written with former Roanoke Times reporter Michael Hemphill. A sequel to "The QwikPick Adventure Society" is also in the works. Keeping with the local theme, Angleberger's hometown heroes will travel to Mountain Lake in Giles County in the next book.

"To me, part of the book's mission is to show people that kids in southwestern Virginia can be bright, creative, funny and smart," Angleberger said. "Even kids growing up in trailer parks."

Meet Tom Angleberger

What: Book signing for the "QwikPick Adventure Society." The event is part of a book fair for Hidden Valley Middle School, and a portion of proceeds from sales of the $16.99 book will go to the school. Also, Angleberger's wife, children's author Cece Bell, will be signing copies of her "Sock Monkey" series at the same location.

When: 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday

Where: Barnes and Noble, Tanglewood Mall

On the Net: www.qwikpickpapers.com