Young author with a cause

A nine-year-old Selcourt girl eagerly chatted in detail about the five short stories she wrote this year and which were printed into an A5 softcover book she illustrated herself.

Nevaeh Barber is selling her book and will be donating 100% of the proceeds to the Springs SPCA.

“When my mom suggested I write a book, I didn’t think about fame or glory or money.

“I just wanted to share it with people to read for free,” Nevaeh says.

Read: Author’s first book

After visiting the SPCA with her mother to adopt a cat, she not only walked away with three cats instead of one, but also with the realisation that the shelter is in dire need and decided then and there to help.

“It took me a couple of weeks to write each story because I first had to come up with ideas,” she says.

Nevaeh, who is home-schooled, says she spends hours on the black and white carpet in her neatly-organised schoolroom thinking of ideas and mostly pulls her inspiration from things she wants to be such as a superhero, a spy or an Egyptian princess.

The short stories are titled: Egyptian Miracle, Dear Journal, Spy It Up, Super Days and Who Done It.

Although she says she misses her friends from her old school, she loves being home-schooled.

Her mother, Jessica Barber, explains that it gives her the freedom to learn about a larger subject matter and to really focus on the things she enjoys most and excels at.

Read: Springs doctor publishes book

“We are not all made to fit into the same little box,” Jessica says.

Nevaeh takes art, ballet and jujitsu lessons and wants to become either an author, a veterinarian, or the president but says she is sure she’ll be influenced by something she really enjoys one day.

At the time of print she had already sold 18 books which means a R900 contribution to the SPCA’s veterinarian bill.

In addition, she gets rewarded for every 15 books she reads, which she also plans to spend on ‘pampering pets’.