12-Year-Old Watertown Girl's Book Published

by Timothy W. Scee II
Special to Newzjunky.com
Published January 24, 2012

WATERTOWN, N.Y.  —  With one book published and another on its way, a 12-year-old student at Case Middle School is aiming to entertain while teaching others about the pack lives lead by wolves in the wilderness.

Makayla L. Keister began work on her second, self-illustrated book, titled “Moon’s Revenge,” as she was entering fifth-grade in June 2010, drawing from both her imagination and visits to the wolf exhibit at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park.

“I go to the zoo where I watch the wolves and then I get ideas,” Miss Keister said. “I look through the dictionary and look up words and what they mean so I can use them in my books.”

Miss Keister’s book tells the story of an angered wolf, named Moon, who is kicked out of the pack by her father and eager to get revenge on him.

While the book is finished and in the process of being edited by her aunt, Miss Keister says she expects the book to be published in March through www.lulu.com, a self-publishing website which she used two years ago after writing her first book, titled “Wolf Life in Tokeya’s Pack.”

That book, completed in 2010, focuses on the life of a male alpha wolf, his mate and their wolf litter ultimately raised by the entire pack. 

“I’ve been interested in wolves since I was really little,” Miss Keister said. 

While a fourth-grade student at Ohio Elementary School, Miss Keister began writing her first book after being inspired by her teacher, Amy Briggs. 

“I was writing a bunch of stories about wolves and drawing pictures and I showed my teacher who said she really liked them,” the author said. “She said that I had the potential to be an author and an illustrator.”

Miss Keister said her teacher’s cousin, also an author and illustrator, noticed the student’s work and was optimistic about her potential. 

Copies of “Wolf Life in Tokeya’s Pack” will hit the shelves “in the next few days,” according to Makayla’s father, Douglas M., in Watertown City School District Libraries and the Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library, 229 Washington St.

Miss Keister’s first book may be purchased through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.com.

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