Alessandro Reale, a resident of Glenside and a 2007 graduate of Abington Senior High School, is an award-winning children’s and fantasy author with ten titles to his name.

In 2021, Reale published Anxious Alex and the Worry Monster, a book partially inspired by his own childhood with anxiety. The following year, he released the companion book, Emma and the Storm Cloud, intended as a resource for children who experience depression.

Reale has had aspirations to be an author since he was six years old. On August 19th, 2011, he self-published the young adult fantasy novel, Dodger’s Doorway.

“I started writing a full-length book when I was 14, but I didn’t finish it until my senior year at Temple,” he said. “My first book was a young adult novel, and in 2017, I put out my first children’s book to challenge myself. It turned out to be a hit.”

Since then, he’s published seven more.

“The children’s books are about coping with mistakes, being kind to others, ignoring bullies, understanding anxiety and depression, and other topics that I wish I had access to when I was a kid,” he said. “I try to put them in a message that children can understand.”

In 2018, Reale took home the Children’s Book Award at The Independent Authors Book Experience in Roselle, New Jersey.

Last month, Reale began grad school at La Salle University in an MBA program with a focus in marketing, but intends to pick up the pen after graduation.

“I have plenty of ideas for future books. My young adult fantasy series will eventually become a ten-book series, which I’m mapping out now,” Reale said. “Once I finish grad school, I’ll be able to focus more on those.”

For more on Reale’s background and to purchase copies of his books, you can visit his website.

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