Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Published by 19: Authors Who Achieved

by Eileen Neary
Junior Project Manager


Most of us at PSG dreamed of writing a best-selling novel when we were young. While some of us went on to write novels as teenagers and young adults, none of us achieved early literary stardom quite like we had hoped.

One of the most well-known young authors is Christopher Paolini. Guinness World Records acknowledges him as the youngest author of a bestselling book series. His epic fantasy novel Eragon sold 33 million copies and went on to become a blockbuster film. Paolini was just 18 years old in 2002 when he and his parents self-published the book. Alfred A. Knopf republished the novel just a year later, launching further success for then 19-year-old Paolini.

A favorite young author in the PSG office is Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. As a teenager, I considered Atwater-Rhodes my hero; she wrote her debut work, In the Forests of the Night, a vampire novel, at age 13 and was published just two years later. Now, at age 32, she is approaching a total of 20 published novels.

Young authors have also made it big in other genres. At age 12, Jake Marcionette wrote Just Jake, which in 2014 debuted on the New York Times bestseller list in the middle grade category in seventh place. The book is a semi-autobiographical tale of a sixth grader learning to survive middle school.

Alec Greven found literary fame at an even younger age than Marcionette. His self-help book How to Talk to Girls was published in 2009, when Greven was only nine years old. The novel originated from a homework assignment, but through some fortuitous events, Greven soon found himself on the New York Times bestseller list. In 2010, he published more self-help books: How to Talk to Moms, How to Talk to Dads and How to Talk to Santa.

In May 2015, nine-year-old Anaya Lee Willabus published her first book. The Day Mohan Found His Confidence is about a boy who struggles at home and school but learns to persevere. Willabus is the youngest author in the history of the United States to write a chapter book.

A less recent accomplishment is that prolific young-adult writer Gordon Korman completed his first book, This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, at age 12, and had it published two years later, in 1978. Korman has since written over 80 books.

Some young authors emerged even less recently. Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein at the age of 19, and it was published in 1818, when she was 21 years old. Throughout history, young authors have made their mark on the literary world. I can’t wait to read what’s next!

Did You Know?

Dorothy Straight is the youngest girl in the world to write a commercially published book. At the age of four, she wrote How the World Began. It was published when she turned six, in 1964. Adauto Kovalski da Silva is the youngest boy to write a published book, Aprender é Fácil (It’s Easy to Learn), which was published in 2005, when he was just five years old.

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