Torrey Maldonado: Author

North Slope resident Torrey Maldonado, 37, uses the power of words to reach young adolescents. Last year, the social studies teacher at Park Slope’s M.S. 88 debuted his first novel, “Secret Saturdays,” a powerful tale inspired by his own childhood in the Red Hook projects. Maldonado hopes that the book, about 12-year-old boys living in a tough world where jail-time and tough-guy attitudes end up taking precedence over school, will influence young adults to make the right choices.

What was the inspiration for your debut novel, “Secret Saturdays?”

I was inspired by my life, and the students that I’ve met over the past 10 years. Being born in Red Hook and raised in the Red Hook projects, I personally dealt with peer pressure and all of the distractions that keep you from reading. I wanted to write about the issues that most impacted both me as a child and the youth I’ve met: bullying, family struggles, the fight to be the real you. Those are the issues in “Secret Saturdays.”

How did you go from teaching to writing fiction?

Fiction kind of grabbed a hold of me. When I was a kid, there was just so much in the neighborhood that I needed relief from. A few of the boys I ran wild with were hooked on comic books. I made this secret pact with myself that I would grow up and write a comic book and other kinds of books.

One day, a cat named Snow White peed on my comic collection, but what remained was the love that I had for books and comics and how they could just transport me.

What about teaching – how did you decide to become a teacher?

My mom was a director of a GED program in the Red Hook housing projects. One of the things that she did for me when I was in elementary school was she created this office space and I pretended to do interviews. And that’s sort of where the desire to work with people came from. I wanted to be like my mom. It always stuck with me. There would have been no way I would have made it out of the Red Hook housing projects if it wasn’t for a great community of people.

Then in college I started tutoring at an upstate prison. I was the only one of my siblings to graduate high school. While tutoring, I ran into one a guy responsible for the murder of Patrick Daly [in 1992]. Patrick Daly was my school principal, and he was formative in my development. This guy was one of the guys I ran wild with as a kid. Ever since then I knew had to get into teaching.

What do you like about living in Park Slope?

When I was growing up in Red Hook there was this real pressure on me and on other boys to be a certain type of male. One of the things I love about Park Slop is that you see young boys here who are multi-dimensional. I love to see the young people growing up in this neighborhood.

And I love the parent vibe here. A few years ago I remember walking down the street with my wife and someone rolled over my foot with a stroller and I thought “this neighborhood is owned by parents.” But now I love it.

What are some of your favorite places in the Slope?

I have a few favorite places in Park Slope, but some of them I prefer to be my hidden gems. I love the muffins at . I often meet friends at. And I think the lunch special at is phenomenal.

What will your next book be about?

I haven’t figured it out yet. I really want to do a sequel to “Secret Saturdays.” A lot of people are really upset about how book ends, but I left book like that on purpose to leave room for the sequel.