RUMFORD — A 2009 graduate of Mountain Valley High School has written and published her first book and is selling paperback and electronic versions worldwide via the Internet.

On Saturday at Rumford’s Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Festival, Phoebe Pike of Rumford was signing copies of “The Cold World,” while helping the Western Foothills Kids Association with cutouts and bookmarks for children.

“It’s about a girl who gets trapped in the body of a sparrow and has to decide if she should stay that way or go back to her old life,” Pike said. The 179-page, suspense novel is written for young adults.

“It’s a book I wrote for one of my friends in high school,” she said.

The book, which came out April 14, is being sold locally at No View Farm & Bakery on South Rumford Road. Pike said it already has a five-star rating, for both the paperback and electronic versions.

According to a synopsis of the “The Cold World,” which is being sold on Amazon and Lulu, “In this world, there is no change in it but the change within yourself.

“We follow the journey of a young woman who remembers nothing and must give in to illusions or become her own hero,” the synopsis says.

“A woman struggles with love, loss, and the return of old enemies in this suspenseful novel. Help find her identity in a world where nothing seems real and everything feels cold. What will she choose and can she finally cope with reality or be lost forever in a frozen dream?”

Barbara Radmore, program director for the Western Foothills Kids Association, said Tuesday via Facebook that she is reading Pike’s book.

“She is very talented writer,” Radmore said. “Her ability to make her words flow is excellent. She has an innate ear for how words can sound together; not easy for a novice author.”

According to the book’s About the Author section, Pike “grew up in a world full of books and her greatest inspiration came from her father.”

She spent her childhood reading books, playing with siblings and drawing.

“Her greatest joy was simply curling up near her father’s chair, and reading while drinking a can of Pepsi,” Pike’s book says.

She said she lives in Rumford with her son, Dante. After high school, Pike said she attended the University of Maine in Orono, with a double major in English literature and education, and a minor in microbiology and art, but had to drop out. It was too expensive, she said.

Now she works at Walmart as a customer service manager and community relations coordinator.

“I think writing a book is kind of an important thing to do, even if nobody likes what you did,” Pike said. “I think it’s important to preserve the written word.”

Even though her book is available electronically, Pike said, “I feel paper is more powerful to be able to hold what you’ve written. It’s something I hope my son will get into someday.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com