HAMPTON, Va. — Excellence is now a tradition for one Hampton family.
At just 11 years old, Israel Veney, a Kilgore Gifted Center 6th grader, is now a published author.
If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because 13News Now featured Israel’s sister Zion in 2018. At just seven years old, she became the first published author in the family, paving the way for her younger brother.
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“Me and my husband are both like, ‘We don’t know where we got these kids from.’ We are just super excited we have them,” said proud mom Cherie Veney. “We both love to write, but not to the extent that they do. And not at that age, for sure.”
Israel dedicated his book titled Buddy the Scorpion Who Saved the Town to his 3rd grade teacher Ms. Tanner, who motivated him to start writing it when he was just 8 years old.
“I started making storyboards and drawing pictures, and then I was writing short stories,” said Israel.
The final product is a thoughtfully constructed 75-page adventure about a young scorpion who saves his town by working with city leaders.
Israel says he has always had an interest in bugs, so the idea for the 10-chapter story was fitting.
However, the reading, writing, and chess-loving 11-year-old has even bigger aspirations for the future.
His goal is to eventually become an astrophysicist.
“We joke around and say that we have to spend as much time with Israel as possible,” said Cherie Veney. “Because we believe he’s going to build a whole community on another planet and we’re not going to see him.”
Israel's book is available on Amazon. He is also holding a book signing event at Empowered Believers in Hampton on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m.