Wanting to raise awareness of the neurodevelopmental disorder she copes with on a daily basis, San Martin teen Riyani Patel has published her debut book, titled “The Boy Battle.”
Patel, 13, who will host a special book signing party from 6:30-7:30pm this Friday at BookSmart in Morgan Hill, takes readers through the journey of a middle school girl who, like herself, suffers from Tourette Syndrome. The character, a basketball player named “Tanya Weeks,” has a crush on the school’s quarterback. But a “not so nice cheerleader” gets in the way.
“The names came in my head. The ideas came in my head. It’s just my imagination,” said the Britton Middle School eighth grader who partnered with her English tutor David Chappell and his nonprofit Literary Legacies to publish the 116-page novel.
Every Friday over a seven-month period, Patel and Chappell conceptualized the storyline for her book.
“I just want to raise awareness of what Tourette Syndrome is, so people can know about it and people can know about the book,” said the San Martin resident. “We have information about Tourette’s in the book.”
Her father, Yogesh Patel, knew what his daughter was up to with developing the book, but had no idea what the subject would be and how it would turn out. Chappell first asked him if it would be all right to include his daughter in the LIterary Legacies project, which has a mission of helping children develop and nurture their creative writing skills in the form of publishing books.
“That’s how this book idea began,” said the proud father who was “pleasantly surprised” by the final product. “For me, the ‘OMG’ moment was when I went to the computer, went on Amazon.com and typed ‘Riyani Patel’ (in the search engine) and there it was. That for me was an unbelievable moment.”
Another special moment is on the horizon at the Oct. 20 book signing party at the local BookSmart, located at 1295 East Dunne Ave. #201, where Riyani will read a passage from the book and then lead a Q&A with audience members.
“I’m kind of nervous and also excited because it’s my first time talking to a crowd like this,” said Riyani Patel, who has even amazed herself with what she’s accomplished. “I’m a real author now at 13 years old.”
• Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that becomes evident in early childhood or adolescence. It is part of the spectrum of Tic Disorders and is characterized by motor and vocal tics.
• TS and other Tic Disorders are not rare. Tics occur in as many as 1 in 5 school-aged children. Some occurrences may be transient, while others will persist into adolescence and adulthood.
• Approximately 300,000 children have the condition in the US (based on 2010 Census data).
* Statistics from Tourette Association of America
