Eleanor Henderson, an up-and-coming fiction authors, will perform a reading from her first novel to Georgia Southern University tonight.

It will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology, Room 1104

Henderson, also a professor at Ithaca College in New York, will be reading from the novel, “Ten Thousand Saints.”

Almost ten years in the making, the coming-of-age novel centers itself around the struggles of adolescence with themes like rebellion, family, music, and finding your identity, Henderson said.

“They [GSU Students] will definitely relate to it,” one of the chief organizers and Professor in the Writing and Linguistics Department, Eric Nelson, said.

The novel is not just for college students or young people but for anybody, any age, Professor of fiction writing, Laura Valeri, said.

The book focuses on a culture known as straightedge.

Straightedge is a subculture of hardcore punk rock in which its members refrain from using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs as well as abstaining from sex, all while being extremely devoted to their music.

The theme of the book may seem alienating at first, but is very accessible and relevant to readers, Valeri said.

“The idea came from my husband who was still involved with the straightedge movement when I met him,” Henderson said.

In addition to her reading, Henderson will also be gathering information for her second novel at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah.

The novel is to bet set in southeast Georgia and its current working title is “The Twelve-Mile Straight.” Henderson will also be reading from her second novel for the first time ever in public at the event.

It’s a coincidence and convenience that the author will be holding a reading at GSU, says Nelson.

The author’s cousin, Allen Henderson of the Music Department, recommended the book to him and he—along with the CLEC and the Department of Music—invited the author down for a reading.

The event will be free to all students, staff and readers alike.