The latest cohort of young writers, recently graduated from a program that helps young children and incarcerated individuals become authors.
Don’t Give Them the Power is the title of teenager Arianna Banerjee’s book. She was able to write the book with the help of a nonprofit called Dream Scribers. Dream Scribers is a 12-week program that helps youth and incarcerated individuals with writing, publishing, and marketing their books.
Banerjee said her book is like a journal that helps people think through their emotions.
“I actually let out a lot of pain throughout all of this. It was kind of the start of my healing journey,” she said. “And that's why I thought it was great to write about my healing journey so I can help others start theirs.”
Natalie Bonner is the founder and president of Talented Tenth Social Services in Aurora. She is also the cofounder of Dream Scribers. This nonprofit helps young children and incarcerated individuals share their voice at no cost to the author.
Bonner said those populations are sometimes left out.
“And we find that they are overlooked as far as being able to [share] their voices, especially as authors, so we felt the need to introduce some change," Bonner said.
This is the third cohort that the nonprofit has had. It includes eight authors. The first one happened in 2021 with five children and three incarcerated individuals.
Bonner said the cohorts usually bring in children across the country.
“We're open to the United States," she said. "Ebony is in Omaha, Ebony and Eva and Toccara - they're in Omaha. We've had children in California, as well as Georgia.”
Youth are solicited using social media, flyers with a QR code on it and word of mouth.
Toccara Nicole is the other cofounder of Dream Scribers. She also has her own company called Vos Consulting and Publishing International. She said the first six weeks are used to get the book done.
“And then that leaves time for Natalie and I to review things and get things back to the parents and the authors," Nicole said. "And throughout the rest of those six weeks, we have moments where they actually get to read portions of their book, we have guest speakers that come in, that help them, who are already on this journey as an author.”
Eva Hutchinson’s, 16, book Little Liz was inspired by real life events.
“I had some experiences with bullying throughout my years of school just like it talks about in the story with the main character Liz,” Eva said. “So, I don't know, it was just like nice to write about.”
Eva said she wants people to know that they are not alone, and they can get through it.
Jamie Blanton’s son Rayden Velazquez,7, who prefers to go by Mario, started writing before being a part of the program. She said Dream Scribers helped him fine tune what he was working on.
Mario needed more time than I could give to tell me about his book “Mario’s Family Photos.”
Angelo, 5, was a bit shy, but his mom, Martha Razo, had some things to say.
“I think everyone is in agreement in the world, that kids have such a huge imagination. So, writing, becoming an author is a venue to get all that creativity onto pages,” she said. “And to impact the world. My son's book is about asking for help.”
His book is called “Angelo Asks for Help.”
Gabe Rizo’s, 12, book is also about helping. Gabe is in band and said this extracurricular activity was the inspiration behind “Musical Magical Mysteries of Mateo.” Mateo is a superhero whose powers were sparked on his birthday.
“He gets a musical instrument called a xylophone,” Gabe said. “And basically, every time he plays a note on the xylophone, he gets wacky, mysterious power. And then at the end of it, he uses his powers for good and helps people.”
Sebastian Morales, 11, book is also about a superhero called Sword Guy.
“And Sword Guy tries to be a hero, but he's really bad at it. Like he keeps messing stuff up,” Sebastian said. “Like, let's say switching a woman with a cat in the tree or something. Just to get the cat out.”
Sebastian Morales has written comic books before, but he never got to publish them.
“So, it feels good to finally publish a book, even though it's not a comic, it's still, it's still pretty cool.”
Sebastian says when school starts, he will tell his friends that he has a book for sale. He’s thinking about his next book, but he is not sure what that would be about.
Both the parents and children agree that Bonner and Nicole make the process easy for the children.
Theresa Corral, Gabe’s mother, called the two a dynamic duo.
“They're a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “So, when they're on their coaching sessions, they're just kind of playing off each other, playing off the Dream Scribers ideas, and they just really helped motivate.”
Corral said this program helps the children learn about deadlines, and other key values they can take with them. She said the program will create a butterfly effect for the children’s future.
The next cohort starts Sept. 13. Applications are open and due Aug. 7.
