TEHRAN – American author of youth literature Ali Benjamin’s book “The Next Great Paulie Fink” has been published in Persian.

Keivan Abidi Ashtiani is the translator of the book published by Ofoq.

When Caitlyn Breen enters the tiny Mitchell School in rural Mitchell, Vermont, she is a complete outsider: the seventh grade has just ten other kids, and they’ve known each other since kindergarten. Her classmates are in for a shock of their own: Paulie Fink, the class clown, oddball, troublemaker and evil genius, is gone this year.

As stories of Paulie’s hijinks unfold, his legend builds, until they realize there's only one way to fill the Paulie-sized hole in their class. 

They’ll find their next great Paulie Fink through a reality-show style competition, to be judged by the only objective person around: Caitlyn, who never even met Paulie Fink. 

Who was this kid, anyway – prankster, performance artist, philosopher, or fool? Caitlyn’s quest to understand Paulie is about to teach her more about herself than she ever imagined.

Told via multiple voices, interviews and other documents, “The Next Great Paulie Fink” is a lighthearted yet surprisingly touching exploration of how we build up and tear down our own myths… about others, our communities and ourselves.

In this acclaimed novel by the author of the award-winning, bestselling “The Thing About Jellyfish”, being the new kid at school isn’t easy, especially when you have to follow in the footsteps of a legendary classroom prankster.

Benjamin has written for the Boston Globe Magazine, Martha Stewart’s Whole Living, and Sesame Street. She is the co-writer for HIV+ teen Paige Rawl’s coming-of-age memoir, Positive, which will be a lead title for Harper Teen this coming Fall, and which will feature an introduction by Jay Asher. She is a member of the New England Science Writers.

Photo: A combination photo shows author Ali Benjamin and the front cover of the Persian edition of her book “The Next Great Paulie Fink”.

MMS/YAW