Marc DeAngelo, author of Wesley and the River Run, is excited to announce his newest project in the works — The Cellphone Monument, a young adult novel set in the iconic neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

This new book explores an imaginative and poignant question: what would your contacts say about the life you’ve lived if a stranger found your phone and started calling the people in it? Through this unique lens, The Cellphone Monument weaves a heartfelt story across three generations of a family navigating grief, identity, and reconnection.

Blending Marc’s signature use of therapeutic insight, rich character development, and themes of friendship and music as healing tools, the novel dives deep into the emotional lives of its characters. At its center is Kaitie-Lynn, a resilient young woman who, along with her husband Sean, has relocated from her childhood neighborhood of Bensonhurst to open a small bed-and-breakfast in Oyster Bay, Long Island, the same town where Marc spent his own formative years. Their new home, just an hour away from Kaitie-Lynn’s grandfather who raised her, becomes a setting full of discovery, memory, and personal transformation.

As a public school social worker with over twenty-five years of experience, Marc brings a deep understanding of adolescent mental health and family dynamics to the page. His writing continues to reflect the strength, vulnerability, and resilience he’s seen in real-life students, making his fiction not only relatable, but therapeutically resonant.

Marc has also immersed himself in the cultural history and everyday beauty of South Brooklyn, from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the local businesses of Bensonhurst, to give readers an authentic and vivid sense of place. This combination of emotional depth and geographic detail ensures The Cellphone Monument will be a powerful and immersive experience.

And that’s not all.

Marc has also announced plans for a prequel to his beloved debut novel. Wesley and the Fifth Grade will explore the events leading up to Wesley’s transformative journey in Wesley and the River Run, offering readers a glimpse into the friendships, challenges, and school life that shaped Wesley’s world.

Whether you’re already a fan of Marc’s writing or discovering it for the first time, The Cellphone Monument and the upcoming Wesley prequel promise to continue his mission of storytelling that uplifts, empowers, and inspires.

Stay tuned for more updates, and if you’re in the Northern Virginia area, meet Marc DeAngelo at book signings on Saturday May 10th, from 12 – 4pm at Forest Park High School in Woodbridge, VA, and on Saturday June 7 from 11am – 4pm am at McKay Used Books Virginia, 8345 Sudley Road,Manassas VA.