Most authors are around 20-40 years old, but here at Centennial, Valentina Peniche, a junior, has published a book of poetry, Words that Eased the Fall. It was officially published on August 31, 2025, and her poetry is now available for purchase on Amazon. For those who love poems about emotions or fun rhymes, I highly recommend purchasing her book; not only may you find another favorite read, but you will also be supporting a young writer. 

Peniche’s love for writing began in middle school, but it wasn’t until last year that she began writing poetry. Her love stems from how, as she puts it,  “Over time I just needed a way to express my thoughts and I just like putting it down. It’s just like a fun way to make rhymes.” 

What first began as a pastime hobby quickly formed a solid part of Peniche’s life as she realized she “could literally put this out to the world and put them into manuscripts,” and that is exactly what she did. 

Peniche went out of her way to email the media specialist and asked for help with publishing a book, and they recommended English teacher, Rus VanWestervelt. According to Peniche, VanWestervelt helped her extensively, from paperwork to the official publishing of the book. 

Before ever considering publishing a book, Peniche spent months writing short rhymes and sharing them with her aunt, who was always the first to read her work and offer encouragement. Even when Peniche sent only two simple lines, her aunt celebrated her talent, often saying, “When are you going to publish a novel? You’re the writer in the family.” Her constant support gave Peniche the confidence to continue writing, eventually leading to her first published poetry collection.

Through Peniche’s words, the book is about “poems that described how I felt throughout various situations in my life and expressed many feelings that I had for myself, for others.…” 

Each poem serves as a reflection of her emotions, ranging from deeply personal moments to imaginative scenarios that helped her process what she was going through.

Peniche emphasizes that creativity doesn’t always flow perfectly at first, but that the act of beginning to put words on paper often unlocks inspiration.

For anyone else who is interested in writing poems or novels, Peniche’s advice is simple: “Don’t overthink it … you have to tackle it one step at a time, like once you start putting it down it will come to you.”