Young Author Inspired By Animals

By Daisy Hutzell-Rodman

Adahmariyah Kelley sits in a rocking chair away from other people in the room and braids her hair into two plaits, quietly surrounded by books. She has patiently answered questions for nearly an hour, when suddenly one question about pets captures her attention.

“I know it’s weird, but I had a pet grasshopper,” Kelley said. “He lived in a huge fish tank in my room.
Her mother, Melissa, smiled to herself.

“Well, it was a terrarium, not a fish tank,” Adahmariyah said.

“And we had two frogs, and we rescued baby birds that fell out of the nest because the mom kicked them out,” she continued.

Adahmariyah’s love of animals has turned her into a published author.  She recently won first prize for her age group (6 - 9) in the Circle C Adventures & Beginnings short-story writing contest. The story was published this month in

“Beneath the Western Sky,” in fact; it is the first story to appear in the book.

The Circle C books are a series by author Susan K. Marlow from Christian-based Kregel Publications. The books revolve around a girl named Andrea “Andi” Carter, who lives on a ranch in the late 19th century with her family and her horse, Taffy.

Adahmariyah has read them all.

“There’s Circle C Beginnings, and Circle C Adventures and Circle C Milestones,” she said. “There’s six books in each series.”

She began reading Circle C books two years ago, when her great-grandmother, Pat Holt, gave Adahmariyah the first set of “Circle C Beginnings” for Christmas.

Adahmariyah immediately read the series of books revolving around the ranch, finishing the first set in almost one week.The back of the books mentioned there was a second series for older readers, and she asked the Glenwood Public Library to order them. She read through those in about 12 weeks, and has eagerly been anticipating Circle C Milestones, the first of which came out in February.

“Andi,” who apparently knows time travel, keeps a blog at com. The blog tells of coming books, shows photos of Andi and her family and announced the writing contest. The contest involves creating original stories using characters from the Circle C books.

Melissa is a former teacher who home-schools her three children (Adahmariyah, 9; Zachariah, 6; and Eliana, 5). She decided the Circle C contest would be Adahmariyah’s writing curriculum this past fall.

“We started with the base idea,” Melissa said. “Then she had to figure out what characters to use, come up with a plot and edit it.”

The short story Adahmariyah worked on all fall was named “The Race Disaster.” She submitted that entry, and enjoyed writing the story so much that, with less than 48 hours to go before the submission deadline, she wrote another story in one night.

The second story, “Finding Pickles,” won, but both stories impressed the judges. The e-mail sent to Melissa’s inbox Jan. 29 to inform Adahmariyah she won read:

“Contest news: Your story, “Finding Pickles,” won first place! Congratulations! (Your other story, Racing Disaster, also was chosen, but since you can only win ONE time, I asked the judges to choose another story so another entry could win.) But I thought you would like to know that the judges did love both stories.
Mrs. M (Marlow)”

“We found out really early in the morning, and my mom like screamed,” Adahmariyah said. “She made me call my grandma.”

“I was excited for her to learn the process of writing, and I really hoped she would place somewhere,” Melissa said. “When she actually won, I was so excited because she is so young, and to have others see her story as great was really wonderful.”

For her efforts, Adahmariyah won $25 in cash, a 10-inch x 13-inch laminated poster, a copy of “Beneath the Western Sky,” a toy horse and a small vial of gold.

Adahmariyah’s win may not have been as much of a stretch as it would be for others.
Melissa said, “everyone in my family writes and tell stories. My grandma is an author; she just finished her first book a couple of years ago.”

Holt wrote “Committee of One,” a non-fiction book about reformist Leila Wahbeh. 

“She has been telling me I should publish a book,” Melissa said. “Now the family joke is – look! Adahmariyah got her story printed before you!”

At this point, the young girl laughs.

“Your stories crack me up, because they are so funny!”

While storytelling and writing are family traits, Adahmariyah claims her favorite school subject is science, because she likes animals.

When she isn’t reading Circle C books or doing schoolwork, she draws pictures of horses. She also sometimes rides Cody, a horse belonging to family friends Wendy and John Halbert.

Adahmariyah is currently working on a story called “The Dancing Star.”  It is still a work in progress.
So what does Adahmariyah want to be when she grows up?

“I want to be a rancher … and a horse rider … and a writer … and an artist,” Adahmariyah said with a smile.