Young author has a way with words

Friday, June 10, 2011

Loretta Jackson photo Merrimack’s Anna Stover, 10, the grand-prize winner of a national writing contest, and her little sister, Abby, 5, peruse some Casey and Bella adventure books, a series featuring canine friends Casey and Bella, which soon will include Stover’s imaginative submission, a book she entered called, “Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully.”

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Loretta Jackson photo Merrimack’s Anna Stover, a fourth-grader at Reeds Ferry Elementary School, considers the upcoming publication of her book, “Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully,” a work that bested 1,400 entries submitted to a national writing contest designed to encourage creativity among young students.

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Photo courtesy Big Tent Castle Bridge Books Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully is the title of the soon-to-be-published book written by Merrimack student Anna Stover, 10, that won a national writing contest drawing 1,400 submissions.

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Loretta Jackson photo Merrimack’s Anna Stover, 10, the grand-prize winner of a national writing contest, and her little sister, Abby, 5, peruse some Casey and Bella adventure books, a series featuring canine friends Casey and Bella, which soon will include Stover’s imaginative submission, a book she entered called, “Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully.”

Enlarge

Anna Stover, a fourth-grade student at Reeds Ferry Elementary School in Merrimack, has been named the grand prize winner of the Casey and Bella Writing Contest.

The contest is an annual, nationwide competition that recently catapulted her soon-to-be-published submission about a bully into the first-place spot among 1,400 manuscripts offered for consideration. Casey and Bella are two canine characters based on real dogs whose adventures are chronicled in a series penned by author Jane Lovascio of New Jersey. Casey is a Jack Russell terrier and Bella is a tea cup Yorkie. Together, the friends solve problems, face foes, create havoc and bring laughter and resolution to an avid readership of young people. Some proceeds from book sales always benefit children’s charities.

Anna’s submission, “Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully,” will be expanded by Lovascio and made to rhyme. When the book is published in the fall, Anna’s version, written without rhymes, will be included in the book, along with the rhymed rendition. She also will be the featured author, upon the book’s release, at a book signing to be held at a local Barnes & Noble book store.

Anna, 10, is a new fan of the series but now owns a collection of the books, including, “Casey and Bella Go Green,” “Casey and Bella Go to Boston” and “Casey and Bella go to Hawaii” as well as the books about the dogs’ Hollywood and New York City trips. Each is illustrated by Aija Jasuna and are published by Big Tent Castle Bridge Books.

“The books are really colorful and fun to read,” Anna said. “It’s going to be exciting to see my own words on the pages that follow the rhyming version of my book. It’s a story about Casey and Bella meeting another dog who is a big bully and trying to figure out why he’s so mean.”

The story evolves into a discovery that the bully has spent a lot of time moving from place to place, never getting to know anyone very well.

“In school, we learned that if we ever get bothered by a bully we should talk firmly but nicely,” said Anna. “In my book, our dog, Murphy, goes for a walk and sees the bully crying. Casey and Bella talk to him and find out why he’s so mean.”

Anna displayed several of the books on the kitchen table during a reporter’s visit to her Merrimack home. Her mom, Jennifer, who works at the Merrimack Library, and her dad, Jason, an employee of Pennichuck Water Works, along with her sisters, Rachel, 15, – a Merrimack High School freshman – and Abby, 5, have spent some time reading most of them. The family’s dog, Murphy, has not. But he is featured in Stover’s book.

“Anna has been writing stories since age 7 or so,” Jason Stover said. “She would disappear into her room and pretty soon she’d have a complete story with dialogue and characters and plots. She’s always been a good writer.”

Jennifer Stover concurred, adding that Anna has a vivid imagination that is sure to take her through life with an optimistic outlook. She mentioned a slogan, one of her daughter’s favorites, that proclaims: In a world where you can be anything, be yourself.

“She has always been our comedienne,” Jennifer Stover said. “She is the one who from the moment she walks in will have everyone smiling and happy.”

Anna said she likes to write her stories longhand in a notebook and then type the final draft on a computer. Her prize-winner was 15 pages, double spaced.

The Casey and Bella brand is especially appealing to youth in the third-, fourth- and fifth-grades. Students in those grade levels are invited to enter the annual contest.

Anna’s grand prize brings with it much more than an awesome line on her school record: It brings an award of $500. She plans to save some, spend some and give about half to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Her little sister, Abby, is affected by the disorder. Foundation literature notes some 30,000 people in the U.S. are awaiting a cure for the disease, a chronic one that impacts breathing and digestion.

In addition to the prize money, Stover will have a dedication page in the published book highlighting her name, a short biography and a photo and will receive a plaque and certificate, an author-autographed copy of the “Casey and Bella Meet Their First Bully,” plus a photo shoot and sit-down with author Jane Lavascio.

Author comments online at www.caseyandbella.com note that the writing contest is meant to stimulate creativity in young students and generate thought about universal issues. Recycling and bullying are but two. Other online attractions offer CB fans a “Play the Recycle Game,” along with a “Surfing with Casey” game and a “Play Dress Up” game, plus other interactive highlights.

A gala awards ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 18, at the Barnes & Noble store in Walpole, Mass. Anna and other winners will be honored.

Anna said she learned about the contest after her teacher shared details about it with her parents at a school meeting. Later, the contest was announced to the entire school and she began thinking of scenarios that would translate into a good story. It was the first writing contest she ever entered.

“When I went into the contest, I did it for fun,” she said. “And it was fun – the whole process from coming up with the idea to coming up with the words was fun. You just start writing your thoughts on paper and brainstorming. You have to give new things a try without being afraid. Who knows what can happen?”