ABUJA – A 12-year-old author, Miss Magdalene Attah, on Saturday unveiled her book entitled “Amari and the Princess” in Abuja.
The author, who just graduated from Junior Secondary School in Lifegate Academy, Utako, in the FCT, hails from Nasarawa State.
The book, which was launched during the graduation ceremony of the school, is a literary work which is a compilation of short stories in its simplest form.
Attah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that her motivation to write the book came when some of her friends who were writing short stories asked her for critique.
She said her opinion on their stories that they were not up to standard angered them that they challenged her to show them her own stories, if she could write better.
“Some felt insulted and bluntly told me, ‘if you condemn our stories, why can’t you write your own story? If you know so much, let us see,’’ said the teen author.
“I took up the challenge, that eventually spurred me into writing and while I was putting the story together, my father saw me writing one day and required to read the script.
“After going through some pages of the manuscript, he applauded my effort and promised to publish it when I finished and today it has become a reality,“ she said.
Attah said that her ambition was to become a successful writer like Chimamanda Adichie.
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According to the book reviewer, Mrs Joke Fadeho, a teacher in the school, the book illustrates the reality of life in a communal living in a typical rural setting.
Fadeho added that the book captured a story of the reward for humility and how honesty could eventually lead to rising from grass to grace.
It also depicts the recompense for good and evil.
“The ten-chapter book is a simple fiction narrated from an innocent girl, who tries to recreate her moral home lessons into a novel.
“Magdalene’s careful selection of the local village name, Amari, gives her out as one who has strong ties with her roots in Nasarawa state.
“Her story setting brings to fore Magdalene’s imaginary ability in creating an intriguing storyline that is also adaptable.
“Her consistency in carrying the reader along in her narrative depicts her as a talented story teller, who, if well nurtured, would surely turn out to be a great novelist,” she said.
On her part, Pastor (Mrs) Bolu Olutayo, the Chief Operating Officer of the school, told NAN that raising children to discover their talents was the ultimate goal of the school.
Olutayo said the school was proud to have produced a talented writer like Magdalene, adding that the school would ensure that the author is encouraged to do more.
“We train them in their talents so that it can become skills and we are extremely proud of her because I know that the sky is her limit,’’ she said. (NAN)
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