Fantastic Superheroes Save the Day!
Text by Mary Ellen Hendrickson and Photography by Jesse Martinez
Great Falls author, Ryan Acra, is sharing his first book with readers and local public schools, encouraging children and adults to “be open.” “Don’t block off the magic of life, dreams and joy. Be present!”
Sugarbeet Falls – Fantastic Friends is Ryan’s first story in a planned seven volume series featuring an eleven-year-old named Xander, and the fabulously helpful and hilarious super heroes and heroines who materialize when most needed.
The young lad’s first encounter with a superhero happens during one of the most awkward of moments – being stranded in the bathroom without the necessary paperwork – when amazingly, out of his own imaginings, a BLIND super hero, calling himself “BM” for “Bathroom Manager,” appears in a white suit, shades and a backpack equipped with “a fluffy roll of toilet paper.”
Our young main character, Xander, soon realizes that just thinking of a way to solve a problem brings forth a super hero to fix things, visible only to himself and a few close friends.
Careful reading of this novel by students in the middle grades (3-6), for whom it was intended – as well as persons of any age – unravel the story of Xander’s rather unusual living arrangement with his father, and both maternal and paternal grandfathers, and the importance of the gift of a set of seemingly old, dusty books. The men are considerate, culinary-minded fellows, who show a high sense of responsibility and a huge amount of humor.
Xander, his family, friends and townsfolk, commence upon adventures that threaten the town’s very health, and restore faith in the power of everyday thinking with “super good” intentions, to show that everyone can be a super hero or heroine when they try.
Ryan Acra’s passion for writing began when HE was a “little kid,” and “doodling “ became a pastime.
“If there was something to write with, I was always doodling.”
Citing a childhood memory of, “two kids on a bus discussing a class assignment and what they could write about,” lit the spark giving him permission to be creative.
“I still can’t spell or punctuate, but I love writing,” he says, noting that his honest approach to telling stories intrigue school children and prompt them to send him their writings, doodles and super hero designs, following his visits to their classrooms.
Underlying Ryan’s work as a writer and time with his family, and a “day job” – a consulting business he calls, “Creative Therapy” – is his early experience becoming a father at age seventeen.
“I had a son in high school – kind of jumped the gun. I was seventeen when he was born. I was learning life as he was. We grew up together.”
Today, that son, Zack, is a twenty-year-old living in California.
“He didn’t like to read,” says Ryan, who says he decided to write something a kid might want to read.
When asked to explain his choice of title, he says that the “Sugarbeeter” was his high school mascot in Chinook, and combining “Sugarbeet” with “Falls,” gave him the perfect name for his fictional town.
Ryan credits his upbringing in the rural Montana town for “being able to chuckle at awkward moments in life.” Combined with the “dabbling in comedy,” that has produced past screenplays and television show ideas, his vision for future volumes showcasing Sugarbeet Falls -Fantastic Friends, prove that true strength comes from his belief in, “humor and sharing the gift of laughter.”
