After leaving college, most students still have to plan their whole careers. For Isamu Fukui (’08), high school was the beginning of his career—his first novel was published while he was a senior at Stuyvesant. During the summer after his sophomore year, Fukui wrote “Truancy,” a dystopia novel about a group of students who plot to destroy a totalitarian school system. After a year away from Stuyvesant, Fukui was invited back by his freshman English teacher, Vito Bonsignore, to talk to Bonsignore’s current English class. Bonsignore’s class has been reading “Truancy.”

While teaching Fukui, Bonsignore did not notice his ability right away. “But when I saw his writing I was impressed totally,” Bonsignore said. “I told his parents he has a bright future as a writer, and the rest is history.”

Ironically, during his presentation, Fukui stepped into the role of a teacher—a role his book reveals he’s not too fond of. He gave the students a quiz on his book and the first three to finish with perfect scores would receive a copy of his new book, “Truancy Origins.” His new book is a prequel to the first and features new characters, but the same subject matter.

Despite his apparent resentment of educational institutions, he decided to continue his education by going to NYU and majoring in English and politics. Although college is demanding, Fukui continues to write and is working on “Truancy City,” a sequel to the original. Fukui hopes that “Truancy City” will come out sometime next year. While the students worked on the quiz, Fukui took questions and replied to them with honest, humorous answers. “That is like asking a parent who his favorite child is,” Fukui said, when asked about his favorite movie. When asked who his most hated teacher was, Fukui did not respond. When asked about profits from the book, Fukui responded that he made around 200,000 dollars, all of which is going towards his education.

Some students also asked about the publishing process. “I write the manuscript over the summer,” Fukui said. “Write the manuscript, find an agent, agent finds the publisher.” Fukui ended his visit by reading excerpts from his newest project, “Truancy City.” He kept the students past the bell, but the students seemed more than willing to stay.

Fukui has many ideas for the future. “The problem is, I can’t pick which one to do,” Fukui said. He’s willing to have his book turned into a movie, as long as he thinks the movie will maintain a high quality.

As for now, Fukui is still having problems with educational administrations—upon entering the building, he was welcomed by a security guard yelling at him to take off his headphones.