There is nothing like setting the stakes high by becoming a published author when you are eight years old. Park Forest resident and Talala Elementary student Skiilar Evans did just that – she published her book titled “You Are Magic” at eight years old! Although she didn’t break the world record for youngest published author, she came really close!
The book “You Are Magic” is about a girl named Stella, who had a bad dream that someone told her she couldn’t do anything – not even be a ballerina, actress, or singer, but Stella proved them wrong! Stella can sing, play an instrument, perform ballet, and much more. This book inspires kids and maybe even adults to put no limits on their dreams, no matter what anyone says!
Skiilar got the idea for this book from her own personal experience, since she has many interests – modeling, acting, reading, sports, and more. When she was at soccer practice, another child told her she couldn’t play soccer and do all these other activities. She needed to focus on only one, which made her sad.
That’s when Skiilar got the idea to write the book, with Stella, the main character, representing her. Skiilar approached her mom, Ericka Evans, about her idea for a book. Her mom did a lot of research and eventually hired an editor, who listened to Skiilar’s idea, and they all worked on how the book should flow.
The editor then helped them aim the audience toward children similar in age to Skiilar and made suggestions. Skiilar was able to read the finished manuscript and thought it was perfect! The next step was finding an illustrator to bring the final touches to life. The illustrator provided sketches and made the characters resemble Skiilar’s life, with the main character looking like her and others like her mom and dad, which was exactly what Skiilar wanted.
When Skiilar received the final copy, she couldn’t believe this was real, and when the final author’s copy arrived in the mail, Skiilar jumped up and down for joy shouting she was an author!
She was shocked even more when people started purchasing her book and praising her. Her book currently is available on Amazon, and Skiilar and her mom hope to get the book into Target stores.
Skiilar was able to read her book to her classmates in Mrs. Burnham’s class at Talala Elementary and is proud to encourage others to do and be whoever they want to be through this book.
Her mom, Ericka, stated, “I want to say Skiilar got her love for reading from me, since I am the bookworm in the family and love Harry Potter. I have always influenced my children to go to the library and still recall how excited Skiilar was when she finally was old enough to get her own library card.”
Skiilar hopes to write more books in the short term but wants to be an actress or model when she grows up, since she is currently part of the Chicago Performing Arts.
We encourage you to support Skiilar by purchasing her book “You Are Magic” through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Magic-Skiilar-Evans/dp/B0C1J9CWMN.