In his first book, Jesse Hereda fictionalizes the struggles and challenges that young people face growing up. He likens it to a war and calls it a battle.

"A line I used in the book was 'faith over fear,'" said Hereda. "That's the message I want everyone to learn. We are all going to have trouble in life. The most important thing to me is sharing the message."

Hereda's book, titled "The Battle for Covenant Grove: An Awakening," is written for teens and tweens. Recently, he shared the book's universal message at St. John's Neumann Catholic Church in Lancaster.

Hereda addressed about 40 middle-schoolers and high-schoolers from three local youth groups and read passages of his book to them.

"Covenant Grove is the town where all the stuff takes place," said Hereda. "There are three friends - Josh, Ava and Mason - but I didn't formally give them an age. Josh and Ava are looking for a way to help Mason, who is dealing with something beyond normal. Josh and Ava are clinging to their faith in order to help Mason."

During his program, Hereda gifted each youth an autographed copy of "The Battle for Covenant Grove: An Awakening." Hereda's intention is for the 200-page book to be the first in a trilogy.

"It's a book based on spiritual warfare," said Hereda, "but not the scary kind of spiritual warfare. There are different ways to deal with things, and sometimes that way is faith."

In their developmental journey - part of which can be guided by spirituality - teenagers and tweeners face their own unique sets of challenges and difficulties.

"I'm definitely not an expert (on youth development), but I was at one time," said Hereda. "I pulled from my own experiences. In this book, I addressed what that does feel like. I'm 45. I think the mechanics of being a teenager is different now, but the experiences are similar."

Hereda has always had words inside of him. But it took a combination of a calling and a leap of faith to bring them out.

Once he embraced the writing process, it took him more than a year to complete the complicated process of publishing a book.

"I had wanted to write something for over 20 years," said Hereda. "I just didn't know what the right topic was. I had all these ideas, but nothing felt right. It was a random Saturday, and I woke up at five o'clock. I knew what I was supposed to write, and I started that day. I spent an extraordinary amount of time that day getting all these ideas out."

A resident of Manor Township, Hereda makes a living as the executive director of the disciplinary board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He has served in that role for 18 years.

"I think the Holy Spirit guided me, like 'This is what I'm supposed to do,'" Hereda said. "I'm on my own faith journey as a Catholic. It was really an interest that was born out of my faith journey."

In his mind, Hereda is already shaping the forms that the next two installments of the series will take, with the specifics and details to follow.

"I have started the ideation process, the outline process, but I haven't put fingers to keys yet," said Hereda. "I do know what happens next. But I don't know the why of what happens next. I have an idea about book two, but not book three."

To purchase "The Battle for Covenant Grove: An Awakening," search for it on Barnes and Nobles and Apple Books, or go to http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Covenant-Grove-Awakening/dp/B0GNP5396M.