Her story unfolding
Girl, 12, releases first book of trilogy
Writing a trilogy of books would seem daunting enough for an adult, but a local12-year-old has started on that path.
Pembroke Pines resident Casey Bee Weidenfeld, a seventh-grader at American Heritage School in Plantation, recently released her first book, “The Golden Flares,” a 184-page adventure that follows Fallon, an orphaned outlaw caught in the politics of a civil war, as she navigates her country with best friend Joey and Asher, who thinks Fallon is responsible for his brother’s death.
“There was a lot of thinking involved,” Weidenfeld said of developing her story. “I didn’t know I wanted to write a book until I had the idea.”
She came up with the idea several years ago. A competitive golfer, Weidenfeld would do her homework during the car ride to practice so she could hole up in her room to work on her book.
“When she said she was going to write a book, she would come home, pull out the laptop and write until bed,” said her mother, Tracy Weidenfeld. “I had a lot of faith in her. Anything she does, she does with her whole heart.”
An avid reader and writer, Casey Weidenfeld spent six months writing her book and an-
other18 months in the editing process.
She “screamed so loud and jumped up and down” when she knew the book would be published. She is in the process of finishing the next two installments.
“I just wanted it out there,” Weidenfeld said. “Once it was finished, I was very happy with the product.”
Weidenfeld competes on American Heritage’s varsity girls’ team, sings in her school’s chorus, and is studying for her bat mitzvah.
“It’s going well but it’s tough,” she said. “Hebrew is one of the hardest lan- guages to learn.”
Weidenfeld’s advice for her peers interested in writing: “Go for your dreams. If you don’t see a book on the book shelf, go ahead and write it.”