Amherst resident Maryann Cocca-Leffler’s “Princess K.I.M. the Musical,” was one of 178 submissions to the second annual Ronald M. Ruble New Play Festival in Ohio. Her play is now one of the top five vying for the top prize – a full production of the play.

The festival features these five works and is the result of a nationwide search for the finest new works in youth theater. “K.I.M.” will be performed at the Caryl Crane Children’s Theater in Huron, Ohio, on April 29.

CCCT and Bowling Green State University Firelands are hosting the festival. The five plays will be cast with acting students from BGSU and CCCT.

Cocca-Leffler learned of the competition through her membership with the Dramatists Guild. Her production met the criteria, so she submitted it by the Feb. 1 deadline. She and her team found out they were finalists March 23.

As a published author and illustrator of over 50 books for children, Cocca-Leffler based this musical on her books “Princess K.I.M. and the Lie that Grew” and “Princess Kim and Too Much Truth.” The inspiration behind “Princess K.I.M. and the Lie that Grew” was a memory from Cocca-Leffler’s childhood.

“I told a little teeny tiny lie to my second-grade classmates,” she said. “I told them my dad owned the Coca-Cola Company.”

Since her last name was Cocca, and the kids didn’t pick up on the different spelling, she experienced a rapid learning curve in how a lie can get out of control.

“When I wrote ‘Lie that Grew,’” Cocca-Leffler said, “I knew it would make a cute stage performance. So when I sold the book in 2007, I kept my play and performance rights.”

Cocca-Leffler then wrote the sequel, “Too Much Truth.”

“When it was ready to come out,” she said, “I thought combining the two books would make an even better play.”

She kept the rights to that book, too.

The creative team behind the production of “K.I.M.” has been working together since September 2010, long before submitting or even knowing about the festival. The goal has always been to get it on a stage with an audience.

The team includes creator Cocca-Leffler and co-adapter Toby Tarnow, of Hollis. Tarnow is the founder and artist director of the Riverbend School of Theater Arts in Milford.

Cocca-Leffler sent the two books to Tarnow, asking Tarnow’s opinion of making the books into a local play. Tarnow’s quick, positive reply was that she could envision a full-scale musical and would love to work on the project with Cocca-Leffler. Tarnow then invited lyricist and composer Andrew Cass of Milford to join the team.

“I’ve worked on independent original musicals before,” Cass said, “But I had never worked with someone else’s source material. The 17 songs I’ve written for K.I.M. all come out of the pages of Maryann’s books, and the process was unlike anything I’d ever worked with before.”

Rounding out the team is professional composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist Premik Russell Tubbs from New York City.

When he saw the rough draft of the music and script, he was impressed with the music and with Cass and agreed to join the team. Tubbs has worked with many big names including Carlos Santana, Sting and Billy Joel.

The play features a little girl named Kim Worthington who, after moving to a new school and longing to fit in, tells people she’s a princess and her name is really K.I.M. for “Katherine Isabella Marguerite.” And, of course, the lie grows and grows until it’s out of control.

The play festival winner will be chosen Sunday, April 29. The winner will have a full production of his or her play performed later in 2012 or early 2013.

“If my play wins, my creative team and I will have the opportunity to work with the student actors during the week prior to production,” Cocca-Leffler said. “We’d learn a lot from that process.”

Cocca-Leffler’s project was also accepted at kickstarter.com, a funding site for creative projects.

The site includes a video and there are several giveaways for different levels of donations. If you’d like to support the effort, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/2035918560/an-original-play-for-children-princess-kim-the-mus. You can learn more about “Princess K.I.M. the Musical” and follow its progress for the festival and beyond at www.princesskimthemusical.com or www.maryanncoccaleffler.com.

“Stay tuned,” Cocca-Leffler said. “Princess K.I.M. will be at a theatre near you and definitely at the Amato Theater in the fall of 2013.”