By Kimberly Pistone
For the Sidney Daily News

SIDNEY — Four years ago, Haley Fogt said she wanted to be a published author before she graduated high school. Recently she achieved this goal when her book “The Hope of Tomorrow” was published on Amazon.

“The Hope of Tomorrow” is about two kids, a brother and sister, growing up in the 1940s, and the stray dog that helps the family cope with the tragedy of their dad dying in World War II, their mom’s depression, and the girl’s blindness which occurs due to complications of measles.

“I think the book focuses on the idea that today might not be the greatest, but tomorrow can be better,” Fogt said. “Whatever life throws at you, you can get through it.”

Fogt said she is not sure where her inspiration came from, but one day she just sat down and started writing. She has always been intrigued by World War II, but still needed to do quite a bit of research in order to write her story. She reached out to a friend who is a pediatric oncologist to learn more about measles and blindness.

In her spare time, Fogt is a sheepdog handler, and has been able to travel all over the United States in competitions, as well as an opportunity to be the only Young Handler from the US at the World Sheepdog Handlers competition in Ireland last fall. Fogt was able to use her experience in dog handling and training to help her create her novel.

Fogt graduated from Sidney High School this year, and will be attending Bowling Green University in the fall, where she plans to study aviation. While she is not currently writing a second novel, she does plan to continue to write novels in the future.

“The Hope of Tomorrow” can be purchased on Amazon, both as a paperback and a Kindle purchase. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited.