The following article was originally posted on the Courier Record website.

It is not often you read a book that is a family affair, but such is the case with The Tree of Ticket Leaves, a children’s book which is growing in popularity.

Local poet, former English teacher, and librarian Larry Good, who lives in Crewe, wrote the book and it was edited and polished by his daughter Meredith. And his daughter Sarah designed the cover. The project has been so successful, they are thinking about writing a sequel.

Mr. Good started writing the book in the early 2000s and admits he didn’t read a lot of children’s literature for ideas. He wanted to write something “positive and enjoyable for children” which sparked his imagination as well, and the result is good, old-fashioned storytelling at its best.

The tale is quite an adventure: A young girl named Meri falls sick and can’t go on a trip to England with her parents, so she stays at home with her Aunt Amelia. One day, on a practice field, a tackling dummy starts talking to her. One thing leads to another, and they end up picking up a leaf that turns out to be a ticket transporting them to faraway, colorful lands, full of adventures and life lessons.

Meri makes friends with characters like a question mark and a buffalo unicorn, all the while travelling to the ticket tree so she can return home. And yes, there are a few bad guys who stir up the excitement.

Since Mr. Good’s favorite writers are the likes of Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, and Shakespeare, his storytelling is lyrical, multi-faceted, funny, and moving. This is a tale with similar themes many of us grew up with in our books: love of family; love of friendship; love of imagination that can whirl you away to faraway exotic lands full of characters you will never forget.

Meredith Good, who has published two novels, said what she loved about the book is, “It kept me as a fan because it’s wholesome without losing cleverness. There are unexpected ideas and characters, and it has funny moments to it,” saying lots of family friendly stories can get sappy. She also pointed out the Good team “avoided agendas. We wanted to stay in the world of entertainment.”

Throughout the process, Sarah Good acted as the sounding board.

Ms. Good had her work cut out for her when she took on the project to edit. Her father originally wrote three volumes, and she thought they would have a hard time finding a publisher, so she edited down to one book. Then she couldn’t find a literary agent, meanwhile having asked an editor friend to go over the manuscript as well; they printed the book with SLEDS Publishing.

The Tree of Ticket Leaves can be read to a child, or a middle or high schooler who likes fantasy could read this on his or her own. The Good team has publicized the book through Amazon, TikTok, YouTube, Book- Life, and paid advertising.

Regional newspapers are starting to review the book, and some county libraries like Wake County in North Carolina have picked it up as well. (Both of Mr. Good’s daughters, Meredith and Sarah, live in Apex, North Carolina.)

The big news is 46 individuals applied for the job of narrating the book for Audible, and the Goods chose Leda R. Douglas, an accomplished English actress. Her reading of The Tree of Ticket Leaves will lead to wide, even international, exposure.

Could the next stop for the Goods be Hollywood? Time will tell.

Mr. Good’s website is VocabuLarryGood.com, where you can read about not only his career, but also his other book, The Turquoise Caboose, which was a series of letters he wrote to his daughter Sarah when she was one-year-old. The Tree of Ticket Leaves may be purchased on Amazon for $13.95. A Blackstone native living in Crewe, Larry is a young 86. He graduated from Blackstone High School in 1957. He holds a B.A. degree in English from University of Virginia and a Masters in Education from the College of William & Mary. Larry taught English for five years and for many years served as Librarian at Crewe Junior High, then Crewe Elementary, then Nottoway High.