- January 7, 2026
A Florida author has published her first young adult novel, which partly takes place in Ormond Beach.
Nancy Lee Bethea, of Nassau County, tells the story of 14-year-old Bloom Howard in her novel-in-verse, "The Yo-Yo Diaries: Spinning Toward Truth." According to a press release, Howard is an honor student who is falsely accused of plagiarizing on a high-stakes writing test. As part of her suspension from school, she helps launch a creative writing program for senior citizens in an assisted living facility. All the while, Bloom searches for truth in a world of deceit.
“This book is the first in a trilogy themed around truth, beauty, and goodness,” Bethea said in the press release. “I’m working on the second book now, and I should be finished with it by early summer.”
In an email to the Observer, Bethea said that she is often in Ormond Beach visiting her mom, and that the community made "a perfect setting" for the middle part of her book. Her novel includes a part where a group of Seabreeze High School volunteers work with the main character to help her with her creative writing program.
A pre-published version of the novel won a Royal Palm Literary Award (Silver Medal) with the Florida Writers Association in October 2025.
Bethea currently directs the Creative Writing Program at LaVilla School of the Arts in Jacksonville. She collaborated with some of the school’s visual arts students, who provided illustrations of yo-yos for her book.
“The Yo-Yo Diaries: Spinning Toward Truth” is available online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers.
