Shelby Middle School student publishes book

Shelby Middle School student publishes book

Tiger Pride is a presentation of Shelby Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press. 

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor

SHELBY — Shelby Middle School eighth grader Addison Adams has published a fantasy adventure novel entitled, “The Sword of Rose,” which is available on Amazon.

The first in “The Weapons of Flowers” trilogy, Addison’s book is about “a girl who ends up in a car crash and gets transported to a different dimension,” said Addison. “She finds out that she’s part of a prophecy to restore these weapons that used to be used to rule the kingdom.”

“Livia Carnelle is a normal girl who is trying to grieve for her dead mother,” states the book’s description. “When she gets into an accident and the event sends her into a coma and a different dimension, she must use her greatest strengths to survive. In this dimension, she will fight and befriend things she has never even heard of, and discover the secrets of her family all while trying to find a way home.”

Livia is “a teenage girl (who) discovers the secrets of her mother while trying to escape a new world with a prophecy at her tail,” states the Amazon description.

The 13-year-old daughter of Amber and Jeff Adams has already written over 100 pages of her second book, “The Shield of Iris,” and hoping to finish it by the end of the year. The third book in the series will be entitled “The Bow of Orchid.”

“The Sword of Rose,” which is 368 pages and 48 chapters, begins: “Her story was long, so long that she couldn’t even remember where it started. She’d tried for years to remember the start of the story that she would never forget, but she couldn’t. Every time she told someone about it, she started in a new spot, although no one believed her when she did tell it, she still supposed it would be good to find a beginning. Finally, after years, she’d been fairly certain of one.

“Livia took a step and a twig snapped under her foot. She gasped scared but then breathed a sigh of relief realizing what it was. Looking around, Livia saw bare gray trees. Where was she? She couldn’t answer that question. She looked around again trying to take in everything, the sky was gray, the trees were gray, even the air, as cold as it was, seemed to be gray. Just about everything else around here had a gray tint to it too. 

“Livia glanced straight ahead of her, through the gray orchard that consumed her, an old house sat in the distance that looked like it was seconds away from falling apart.”

Impressively, the young, quiet author also designed the book cover. “I like art,” she said. The honor roll student also plays flute in the middle school band.

Addison’s love for reading sparked her passion. “She’s a big reader, so I think she’s been inspired by other stories,” said her mom. She read 50 books in the past year.

“We’re big readers,” Amber said of their family, which includes her older daughter, Bryn, who is a sophomore at Shelby High School.

Addison, who began writing the book at age 11, took the initiative to self-publish the book through Amazon. “You start writing a rough draft, and then you have to format it through whatever website you want, and then you design a cover and attach everything to the publishing website,” she explained.

“She was the one who researched how to publish it on her own and format the book,” said her mom. 

“The family and relatives are all very proud,” said her dad. “They were elated.”

In addition to its availability on Amazon, the family has author copies for sale. The book, hot off the presses, was released in mid-January.

Paperback copies are $11.99, and hardcover books are $18.99.

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