CREATIVE SOLUTION
Bowmanville girl wanted to buy a new cellphone so she wrote her own book to pay for it,
A Bowmanville girl, Alexa Allison, found a creative and profitable solution when she wanted to buy a cellphone but was still too young to get a job to earn the money.
“Since I’m too young to get a job, I decided to make my own job and write a book. It’s a book about getting a job,” said Alexa, now 13. “A girl goes out to find a job. They’re always telling her she’s too young.”
You’re Too Young! tells the story of Rose, who is 12 going on 13. Most of Rose’s friends already have phones and she really wants a new one. Rose approaches several people looking for a job and is rebuffed each time.
Mixing financial literacy with youthful determination, the message of the picture book is “that you can do anything no matter what age you are and to follow your dreams,” explained the Grade 8 student at Duke of Cambridge Public School.
It took Alexa several days to write the story and several more to edit it. The book is illustrated by her aunt, Chelsea Gauvin-Legacy. The water- colour illustrations took eight hours each and were a Christmas gift for Alexa. The book is self-published and doubled as a real-world application of math lessons for Alexa: Each book cost approximately $7 and sells for between $12 (in-person) and $18 (online). Alexa had to keep careful track of the proceeds to pay her parents back for the loan to self-publish the picture book.
“She wasn’t allowed to spend any money until she paid back her investors,” said Marsi Legacy-Allison, Alexa’s mom. “The whole book has a theme of financial literacy for kids.”
Even before the book was back from the printer, the young author/ business person was busy pre-selling copies. The finished book came back from the printer in December.
“I was really excited when it came in. I was checking the mail every day,” Alexa said.
She had a meeting with her school principal to ask if she could send a letter home with students about the book. She was allowed to promote her book at school in exchange for giving a copy to the school library and donating a dollar from each book sold back to the school.
“She had a whole book to keep track of everything,” said Jamie Allison, Alexa’s dad. “She was quite impres- sive talking to her principal. She led the meeting, I went for moral support.”
Alexa also sold her book through her grandmother’s toy store, her aunt’s office and Facebook. You’re Too Young! is also available online at Amazon, Lulu, Indigo and Barnes and Noble.
You’re Too Young! has sold more than 150 copies. Alexa has been able to pay back her parents and buy her- self a new iPhone 6s.
Alexa isn’t sure if there’s more writing in her future. She said math is her favourite subject at school and she thinks someday her career might be in that field.