SERVING SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI SINCE 1927 • WWW.STUDENTPRINTZ.COM • MARCH 2, 2022 | VOLUME 107 | ISSUE 21
GOLDEN EAGLE SPOTLIGHT PG 2
HATTIESBURG SWANS PG 4
BASEBALL
PG 8
Local children’s book author aims to inspire through reading CLARISSA HENRY PRINTZ REPORTER
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reakin’ ankles on the court, makin’ A’s is my sport.” are the words written by a PTO board member, mother of two who has never spit a rhyme a day in her life. It’s not her who is “breakin’ ankles”, but it’s a line she wrote in her first published children’s book, ‘What Will A-Tal Play Today?’. An Ellisville native and Mississippi State graduate, Mekael Black spends most of her time doing what she loves-being a wife and mother. She is approaching her fifth year on the PTO board where her children attend school. Black never thought she would be an author of two children’s books, let alone possess the ability to write a “rap” for Black aims to raise awareness of the importance of reading thorugh her Courtesy of Black books. any occasion. We have all had those nightbe a writer, she immediately stic characters, are culturally time interruptions that left us shared the news with her famand ethnically diverse, age-apin bed wondering when sleep ily who was in disbelief at the propriate and show realistic would find us. In Black’s case, claim until her son Asa hears and practical solutions to her night of interrupted sleep one of the raps from a story. problems. led to one children’s book after “Mom, I know God had to The story of how A-Tal origianother. have given you this because nated is a representation of the “The son says good mornyou cannot rap,” Asa said. stories’ realism. ing,” Black heard as she atAs Asa stated, Black credits Asa is the poster child for tempted to fall asleep. In wonher faith and her relationship der, she asked herself “What? sports and athletics so much Where did that come from?”. with God as inspiration for all so that his classmates “knightOn a sleepless night in of her stories, giving her the ed” him the nickname “A-Tal”. October 2020, those interrup- “desires of her heart”: the de“A” is for Asa and “Tal” is short tions led Black to write three sire to help children read and for talented. stories on her smartphone. have fun while doing it. “A-Tal’s my name, ‘cause Never imagining herself to Black’s books contain reali I got game,” Black writes in
‘What Will A-Tal Play Today?’. ‘What will A-Tal Play Today’, is a story about a six-year-old little boy whose real name is Asa. A-Tal loves to play and if he could, he would play all day. The story follows A-Tal through his day, as he “raps” the clue to his next adventure. ‘The Fearless Princess’ was written from the inspiration of her daughter Aixa, a Super Girl’s journey to overcoming fear. The Fearless Princess tells you how she overcame obstacles, challenges herself to try things that she never tried before and defeated fear. “Through faith in God, words and help from family, real-life Aixa has overcome many challenges,” Black said. We all experience anxiety and fear when we consider taking on new feats, something that Black admitted to during the process of writing the book. “This was scary and I almost talked myself out of it,” Black said. Through prayer, phoning a friend and Google, she was able to launch her dream of “changing the world one child and one book at a time.”
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