When your first-grade homework becomes a bestseller
Nia Mya Reese (r.) signs copies of her book, 'How to Deal with and Care for Your Annoying Little Brother,' April 21 at Homewood Public Library in Birmingham, Ala. Her mother, Cherinita Ladd-Reese (l.) helped her find a publisher. Nia Mya, now 9 years old, was 7 when the book was published.
Carmen K. Sisson
Hoover, Ala.
Ronald Reese slips quietly into the library, unnoticed by the kindergartners scattered around the floor. His eyes scan their upturned faces, searching for his daughter. He grins broadly 鈥� there鈥檚 Nia Mya at the center of it all, wearing a pink unicorn shirt and twisting her feet nervously around the rungs of a purple stool as she speaks, occasionally looking to her mother for encouragement. Mr. Reese takes out his smartphone and begins recording his nine-year-old, the bestselling author.聽
Nia Mya鈥檚 route to literary fame was a straight trajectory from first grade to Amazon, helped along the way by an observant mother, a supportive father, and one pesky sibling.
Today, Nia Mya Reese is speaking at Bluff Park Elementary School in Hoover, an idyllic, affluent suburb of Birmingham, Ala. The five-year-olds are quiet, a few shyly sucking their thumbs. But the older students are in awe as Nia Mya explains how a class assignment 鈥斅燿escribe something you are an expert at doing 鈥斅爈ed to her first book, 鈥淗ow to Deal with and Care for Your Annoying Little Brother.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
Nia Mya Reese isn't your average bestselling author 鈥� she's 9. But reporter Carmen K. Sisson found that her parents aren't your average stage manager parents either. Helping Nia Mya be a normal third-grader is right up there with family and church on the Reeses' priority list.
Cherinita Ladd-Reese had plucked the manuscript from an assortment of spelling tests and history homework, surprised to discover her daughter鈥檚 charming take on how to navigate siblinghood. She encouraged Nia Mya to polish the text. As summer drifted toward fall, Nia Mya's draft began to look less like schoolwork and more like a real book.
Ms. Ladd-Reese聽thought it would be fun to self-publish it, but a call to Oklahoma-based Yorkshire Publishing gave her surprising news 鈥斅爐hey wanted to publish and market the book themselves. The slender, 32-page paperback climbed to the top of Amazon鈥檚 bestsellers faster than Nia Mya could lick the pink-and-teal icing off her eighth birthday cake.
Last year, Yorkshire published Nia Mya鈥檚 book on bullies, while she is working on a third, which focuses on sore losers. And the business-minded tween is always looking ahead. Nia Mya recently became a representative for Justice, a girls鈥� clothing company. She can often be seen sporting shirts with messages such as 鈥淣ever stop dreaming big鈥� and 鈥淚 am a girl. That鈥檚 my superpower.鈥� She wants to design a line of clothing and is sketching ideas.
鈥淚 think I was playing hopscotch at her age, and that was about as far as my vision went,鈥� Cherinita says. 鈥淚 told her I need a personal assistant just to keep up with her and help carry out the plans in her head.鈥�
Cherinita聽works as an executive director at Faith Chapel in Birmingham, while聽Ronald is a real estate agent.聽They both help their daughter juggle opportunity with everyday third-grade life.
Harry Connick, Jr. featured the family on his talk show, giving Nia Mya and her brother, Ronald Michael, their first taste of New York. (The lights impressed her, she says, but the city smells like garbage.) CBS News interviewed her. Teachers asked her to speak to their classes.聽
Cherinita聽tries to limit Nia Mya to no more than two events per month. Thursday nights are dedicated family time, and Sundays are reserved for church.聽鈥淎 lot of the principles people see in Nia Mya are not just words,鈥� Cherinita聽says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 thrilling when you see the lessons you鈥檝e tried to instill coming out. I tell her that whenever God favors you or spotlights you, it鈥檚 never just for you, it鈥檚 so you can give something to others.鈥�
Today, at Bluff Park, Nia Mya鈥檚 wireless mic refuses to stay looped over her ear. Finally, she gives up, holding it in front of her like a dandelion upon which she is about to make a wish.
鈥淗ow annoying is your little brother on a scale of one to 10?鈥� asks a student.聽
鈥淭en,鈥� Nia Mya says, grinning. 鈥淗e gets on my last nerve sometimes, but he鈥檚 very sweet and playful.鈥�
At the end of the presentation, Bluff Park second-grader Elodie Graham has a special request. She and three friends want Nia Mya to read a book they wrote, in which they come face to face with a bear. Nia Mya skims the story, smiles, and gives it back to the young author.
鈥淪he said she liked it!鈥� Elodie says. 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 have to look at it, but she did.鈥�
As the students leave, Nia Mya gives her father a high five and flops dramatically onto a bean bag chair. 鈥淧hew!鈥� she says, before jumping up and disappearing between the bookshelves, looking for something new to read. An irrepressible dreamer, Nia Mya is unfazed by the fruits of those dreams, even as they continue to manifest. She plans to write until she doesn鈥檛 want to write anymore, and then she wants to be a teacher.
鈥淪he鈥檚 a normal nine-year-old,鈥� Ronald says. 鈥淪he and her brother still disagree. She still wants to stay up late. But every child has something in them: Our job as parents is to notice it, cultivate it, and encourage it. Move out of the way and support it.鈥�