By Maggie Downs
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ted Hueter, 18, a senior at Moeller High School, can find his novel Trust Fund Babies in the school's library, but the book won't be in stores until August. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP - English teacher James O'Keefe was surprised when student Ted Hueter turned in his most recent work.

It wasn't a poem or a critical analysis of The Catcher in the Rye.

It was a copy of the student's first published novel.

"I was shocked," O'Keefe said. "But there are certain people who have a comfort level with language. Ted is one of them."

In many ways, the 18-year-old Hueter is like many of his fellow seniors at Archbishop Moeller High School. He attends football games. He likes to read. He played in the band.

Except this student hopes to pay for college with the royalties from his first book and a series that will follow.

It's better pay than working at a fast-food joint, he said.

"I'll make enough money from this that I won't have to go into debt at college," said Hueter, who plans to stay history this fall at Ohio University in Athens. "If that's all I get from it, that'll be nice."

Trust Fund Babies is a mystery novel set in Palm Beach, Fla., (where Hueter's family maintains a summer home). The protagonist is Julian Weber, a man of privilege and wealth.

Weber's neighbor, a former mobster, makes him an offer he can't refuse: Baby-sit Larry's one-eyed pug.

Through a series of events, ranging from the vet's office to ritzy parties, Weber finds himself rubbing elbows with Palm Beach's elite. Before long, Weber is stuck in the middle of a storybook romance and a murder mystery.

Hueter isn't the first at Moeller - or even in his class - to publish a novel. Fellow senior Kuangyan Huang penned New Heights in America: One Chinese Boy and Seven American Teachers which became a bestseller in his native China a month after it debuted in January 2001.

Both students studied English from O'Keefe.

"We do focus a lot on writing here and the importance of being able to express yourself on paper," the teacher said. "I've always tried to convey to the students that proper writing is a life skill, not something that will eventually fall by the wayside."

Hueter's book was inspired by a Palm Beach vacation about three years ago. Then a year ago, he got serious about finishing it.

When the text was complete, Hueter attempted to find an agent, a difficult task for writers who aren't established. He eventually stumbled onto some publishing companies that were receiving query letters.

He sent letters to six. One responded.

New Age World Publishing, based in Berkeley, Calif., approved the manuscript last September.

The book won't be distributed to bookstores until August. However, the 10-chapter, 154-page volume is available on Amazon.com for $15.95.

"The one thing (the publisher) told me is that I have a definite edge, because most writers are middle-aged," Hueter said. "But it's been a little difficult trying to set up book signings and stuff, because I'm so young. One store gave me the runaround until I gave the owner a copy of the book, and then he calmed down a little bit."

So far, most of the copies have gone to Hueter's family, including mom Syndi, stepfather Fred Hill, sister Amelia and step-sisters Katie and Susie.

They really don't think the novel is a big deal, Hueter said. In fact, even he isn't that impressed.

"I don't even think about it a lot," he said. "I have a copy in my room and go, 'Oh, that's nice.' I know I will never be the next Tom Clancy or anything.

"But writing a book is what I really wanted, and I'm glad I accomplished that."

E-mail mdowns@enquirer.com