Jediel Tucker, 8, turns school project to published book

Jediel Tucker is not your average 8-year-old. While he loves drumming and playing football, he is also a young author who recently published his first book on Amazon earlier this year.

The book titled, My First Book: Come Read with Me was officially launched in Guyana at the University Of Guyana (UG) on Sunday.

The book is a collection of short stories and was inspired by a school project aimed at enhancing creative writing skills for his class at the New Guyana School.

During the book launch, Jediel signed copies of his book that were on sale. But surprisingly, the young lad does not want to become a writer.

“When I grow up, I want to be a pilot,” Jediel told the News Room.

His passion for storytelling is being nurtured and supported by family, especially his mother, Mrs. LaToya Arthur-Tucker, who is also an author.

“Jediel is a very determined child, he is very deliberate in what he does,” his mother said.

Asked about his favourite story in the book, Jediel said: “One of my favourite stories in the book is – The Best Afternoon – is when I came home from school, I had to go to a camp which is Camp Shalom.

“I would like to thank God, my mom, my teacher and my family for helping me write the book,” the young man said.

UG’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin also attended the event and praised the commitment of Jediel’s parents in recognising and nurturing his talent.

“I really want to thank the parents of this young man first and foremost, for recognising his talent because many times children have talents and gifts and those gifts are not recognised early or at all,” Professor Mohamed-Martin said.

The Vice Chancellor further highlighted a programme at UG focused on finding and supporting brilliant young people for four or five years before they enter university.

“At the university right now, we have four 14-year-olds finishing their first year in computer sciences and engineering,” the Vice Chancellor highlighted.

Jediel’s teacher from grades 1 and 2, Melissa Nurse, who also recognised his exceptional writing skills at such a young age was in attendance and also expressed her pride.

“He has this ability to do great things, we had this project every year in Grade 2 where the students have to produce a book with the help of their parents.

“The stories were stories they had to complete in class, I guided them through the stories, corrected them and then the parents typed them without any change of the words and so on, and I noticed that Jediel stories were excellent and I encouraged him to continue writing,” the teacher explained.

“I am so proud this afternoon to be here at his book launch,” she added.

Jediel’s book will be at the National Library, Amazon and also sold at the Adventist Book Store.