For every purchase of VIP Fruits: A Beautiful Christmas on Amazon and Barnes & Noble by Dec. 13, Adam Musselmani will donate a signed copy of his book to a nonprofit organization, School on Wheels.

WARNING: This story may get you in a holly, jolly mood, ready to enjoy the holiday season to the fullest—and it’s all because of an 11-year-old Virginia boy whose passions for creativity and humanitarian efforts shine bright. 

Last year, we introduced you to Adam Musselmani, a then-10-year-old who’d written—and published—a book, VIP Fruits. At the time, he hinted toward the possibility of writing a second book. 

We’re happy to report that Musselmani’s second book, VIP Fruits: A Beautiful Christmas is on shelves now—and just in time for the holidays! 

A Different Story

If you’ve ever sat down with the intention of writing a book, chances are the first draft didn’t go exactly according to plan. Musselmani had a similar experience when he first started working on his sequel.  

“Things were kind of rough,” he said. “It was definitely more challenging and difficult than the first book, especially the writing process.”

The author started writing an initial draft and got a fair amount of words on paper, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the plot wasn’t cohesive. Rather than go back through and make adjustments to the first quarter of the book he’d written, Musselmani took drastic measures.

“So you know what I did?” Musselmani said. “I deleted everything.”

The sacrifice was necessary to continue forward. Musselmani’s story started flowing, the plot thickened, and before long, all of the telltale elements of a great book started coming together. 

“I just deleted everything and restarted because if you’re not, like, proud of what you made, it’s okay to start over from the beginning,” Musselmani said.

The brave move paid off in a big way, and audiences are resonating with the story. VIP Fruits: A Beautiful Christmas recently hit #1 in Children’s Humorous Literature and #16 in Christmas books in the Kindle store.

“I just started out with something that was totally different than how the book is today,” Musselmani said.

A Grand New Adventure

In his breakout novel VIP Fruits, Musselmani invites readers to explore life on the countertop and in the refrigerator. King Hector, a conniving carrot, devises a vicious plan to oust the fruits from their bowl, according to the synopsis. As the fruits and veggies team up to combat a common enemy, they’re all in for a sweet ending.

Musselmani’s second book features the same illustrator, Laura Liberatore, as well as some of the same characters, but there’s a new villain in town. His name is Parker Pickle—and while we can’t give away any spoilers, expect mayhem.

“What makes this book unique is that Parker isn’t the only problem in the book,” Musselmani said. 

The author explained that a conflict occurs when Albert realizes that Christmas is only about a week away—and he hasn’t gotten gifts for any of his friends. Not just any gift will do. Albert searches for the gift that he feels each friend will find perfect. 

While in pursuit of the perfect present, Albert ends up doing good deeds for his friends along the way. Therein lies an important lesson.

“And then in the end, we learn that gifts do not have to be physical,” Musselmani said. “Gifts do not have to come in boxes.”

Giving Back

Similar to last year, Musselmani chose to connect his authorship to his humanitarian efforts. Instead of tackling world hunger a second year in a row, he chose another important impact area.

“It’s not only world hunger that I want to help prevent. It’s also other world problems—and world hunger is basically just an aspect of poverty. Poverty is the reason for all of that. And poverty is probably one of the biggest problems in the world,” Musselmani said. “I feel like it’ll be nice to try to help the community, especially put a smile on children’s faces.”

The 11-year old recently donated multiple copies of his new book to ForKids in Norfolk. The nonprofit organization strives to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty for families and children.

Musselmani also has big plans in the works to benefit underprivileged children in a different part of the United States. For every purchase of VIP Fruits: A Beautiful Christmas on Amazon and Barnes & Noble by Dec. 13, Musselmani will donate a signed copy of his book to a nonprofit organization in California, School on Wheels.

“School on Wheels is an amazing organization that provides children that suffer from homelessness in California with an education and academic support,” Musselmani said.

With the help of volunteers, the organization provides free tutoring and mentoring to children from kindergarten through 12th grade living in shelters, motels, vehicles, group foster homes, and the streets of Southern California.

Supporting Creativity 

The author’s mother, Rana Musselmani, wholeheartedly supports her son’s writing, as well as his humanitarian efforts.

“We noticed he’s a very creative writer, and we decided to support him. But I think the world is becoming not a beautiful place—and I want Adam to know that with his writings, he can make a difference,” Rana said. “Adam is a huge advocate in helping underprivileged children, specifically, so we wanted to go that route. Maybe Adam is not going to become a very well-known author, but when he grows up, I want him to remember that with his writings, he was able to make a difference.”

Side note: with his talents and world-changing actions, we call dibs on writing the story when Adam Musselmani wins a Nobel Peace Prize. 

There’s one more bit of holly jolly news. We asked if there could be a third book coming in the future.

“Yes, ma’am,” Adam said. “That is the plan.”