Young South Brunswick Author Inspires Students at Former School

As he spoke to a room full of students at Brooks Crossing Elementary School last week, Crossroads North eighth-grader Daniel Kim had come full circle.

It was just a few short years ago that Daniel himself was sitting on the floor during an author visit at his school listening in wonderment. But this time it was Daniel who was speaking to the kids, having recently published his first novel "Allison," a tale about three kids and an albino alligator.

"I had an idea in the first grade that I really wanted to write a book," Daniel said. "When I was in first grade we went on a field trip to Jenkinson's Aquarium and I was just really interested in the alligators. I used to write personal narratives in a journal, but I got sick of that, so I wanted to write a story and I thought about the albino alligator I saw. It turned into a story about three elementary school kids who find an egg and go on a journey to protect this alligator."

While still in fifth grade at Brooks, librarian and media specialist Lauren Lee Tom had arranged a visit to the school from children's author Trinka Hakes-Noble. The visit left Daniel inspired to pursue his dream.

"I had asked Trinka to speak with Daniel and provide him with some guidance, and fortunately, she took him under her wing," Tom said.

Daniel began a long process of writing and revising his book, which swelled from just over 14 pages to 152 by the time he was finished. Even after Daniel left Brooks Crossing and moved on to middle school, he was still aided in his writing from principal Jodi Mahoney and his former teachers at the school.

"I gave the book to my teachers and friends to see their reactions and get their advice," Daniel said. "My old teachers and principal were very supportive and inspired me to keep going."

Daniel worked on collecting facts about albino alligators by speaking with various aquariums, and continued the constant process of revising and rewriting his work.

When he was finally ready to move forward with publishing the book, Daniel leaned on South Brunswick High School student  in 2011.

"Matt showed me another way of publishing my book through an online publisher," Daniel said. "So at the beginning of this year, I got in touch with an editor and started the process of revising my book again."

Finally, the fruits of Daniel's labor were realized when his book was published late last year.

"One of the best parts of this was being able to complete such a big task, which I couldn't have done without my parents," Daniel said. "It was really rewarding to see the book published and satisfying to complete something like this."

As Daniel visited Brooks Crossing, the students seemed in awe that someone who once sat where they were and wrote in the same journals they do, took an idea from third grade and saw it through until it became an actual novel.

"I think it's more meaningful for the kids to see someone who graduated from here a couple of years ago and seeing what he accomplished," Mahoney said. "This is something real and achievable for them. His presentation had pieces they can connect with and they can see what can be done with hard work."

As Daniel told the students about the amount of work that went into his book, including mentioning that all he did was "eat, sleep and revise," he hoped his experience would inspire other young fledgling writers to follow his path.

"It's amazing to look back and see how one small idea evolved into a real children's novel," he told the students. "And you guys can do it too."

To order "Allison" visit any of the following links:

Amazon (Paperback)

http://www.amazon.com/Allison-Adventures-Ordinary-Extraordinary-Alligator/dp/1478296399 

Amazon (Kindle Edition)

http://www.amazon.com/Allison-Adventures-Extraordinary-Alligator-ebook/dp/B00B07JSS2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Createspace (Publisher website)

https://www.createspace.com/3943216