MORRISBURG – Eight year-old Grade 3 Morrisburg Public School student Kaydance McMillan is now a published author.
Her short story entitled “Who’s in the Basement?” was published in the book Wild, a compilation book of student stories published annually.
Kaydance tells The Leader that she wrote the story last year. She had been reading books from the Goosebumps series which she found in the school library. That’s where she got the inspiration for her story.
Kaydance’s mom had heard about this writing contest, so they decided to enter Kaydance’s short story. The contest was the annual Polar Expressions summer writing contest which encourages Canadians to express themselves through writing and is open to all ages, with a book dedicated to young authors.
About one-third of the short stories and poems are published in the keepsake soft cover book collection each December.
A copy of the book was donated to the Morrisburg Public School library by Kaydance’s family.
While Kaydance’s favourite subject at school is visual arts, she says she really does like writing a lot.
“Depending on how the day goes, I usually write every day,” says Kaydance. She is really excited about a new writing project her Grade 3 class is starting this week. The stories will be featured in a class book.
Kaydance is also a reader who enjoys mostly chapter books. “I really like mystery books,” she said.
So it was natural for Kaydance’s short story to be a mystery.
What Kaydance liked best about writing this short story was the feeling it gave her. “When I was writing it, it made me feel like I was in the book.”
“I didn’t know how I wanted the story to end, it just kind of happened.”
“I’m pretty excited. I never thought I could have my story in a real book,” said Kaydance.
Morrisburg Public School principal Krista Mano said that she is, “proud and inspired by Kaydance and her amazing writing skills.”
“It’s inspiring that our students are enjoying writing so much.”
