Lakeland 10-year-old writes book about COVID-19

A lot of us talk about writing a book one day, but a Lakeland girl just did, and she is only ten years old.
 
Her book, entitled, “Biscuit: A Girl Growing Up in 2020,” is about COVID-19 and other issues of the day.
 
Maliyah Rue, affectionately known as 'Biscuit,' is a fifth-grader at Winston Academy of Engineering. She started writing down her thoughts last spring when brick and mortar classes were canceled and children began e-learning at home.

COVID-19 became even more personal when Biscuit’s mom contracted it.
 
“I was scared,” she told FOX 13. “There was really a lot of death going, so I was scared something might happen to her. I don’t know what life would be like without one of my parents.”

She says thankfully her mom, who had a mild case, recovered quickly. After several months, the 10-year-old had 35 pages worth of material. Only then did Biscuit’s mom finally break the news to her dad.

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“I was like, hey, your daughter wrote a book, and I am going to send you a copy of the draft, while I am waiting for it to come back from the editor,” recalled Marchina Smith.

Biscuit’s dad was shocked, to say the least.
 
“My daughter, my child, wrote a book,” commented Rico Rue with pride. “I never thought in a million years that she would write a book.”

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It is not a book that is going to sit on a library shelf and get dusty if Biscuit’s principal can help it. Ava Brown plans to use it in every fifth-grade class at Winston as a way to get kids to open up about what they have been through this year.

“They have feelings,” said Brown. “And they want a way to express those things that have impacted their life.”
 
“Biscuit: The Girl Growing Up in 2020,” is available on Amazon for $10. There is also a Kindle version.

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