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Twelve-Year-Old Leila Wu Publishes Her Second Book
Arcadia Weekly Apr 19, 2016
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Leila Wu. – Courtesy Photo
By May S. Ruiz
In 12-year-old Leila Wu’s head, there are perfectly formed people with magical powers who inhabit earth and can also live in another world, quite apart from our idea of reality. She describes these individuals and the place they visit in vivid detail in her book, “The Mysterious World of Camelot.” It is the second installment in what she plans to be an ambitious 14-book series.
It all started with Jupiter – the planet – not the Roman god. Strange as that may sound, it was a research paper on the solar system that got then first-grader and six-year-old Wu interested in writing.
“I spent recess time researching and I learned about the red dot, a storm on Jupiter. I found it so engrossing that I wrote 10 pages for what was a seven-page work assignment. My teacher, Mrs. Watts, had to stop me at that point because the class had moved on to Saturn,” recalls Wu, now a sixth grader at Clairbourn School in San Gabriel.
In second grade Wu wrote this little poem for Mothers’ Visiting Day:
Mothers’ Visiting Day: hip, hip, hurray!
Today’s the day that they may stay!
We say our poem, then we rest.
They said we are the best!
We love our Moms, they love us
Even when we miss the bus.
Moms work; we do, too.
So don’t take home the glue!
Moms are fun in the sun!
Don’t eat your mom’s bun!
Every mom’s special
But there’s one that’s really mine!
So give your mom a hug!
Don’t let the hugbugs bite!
Wu’s teacher, Denise Wreede, was charmed by the poem and submitted it to Paw Print, the school’s student publication. Her mom, Monica, was both impressed and touched when she read it. “While this poem expressed childlike sentiments, it also showed Leila’s writing ability,” Monica states.
An avowed book lover, Wu would often check out as many library books as she was allowed. In second grade, after reading a book she did not particularly find engaging, she declared, “Even I could do better than that,” she laughs as she remembers that youthful hubris.
In the same magazine where Wu’s poem ran, another student had composed a short story. Monica used that to start a conversation about literary writing. “I truly believe in passion first and foremost, and then in talent,” she discloses. “I try to expose my two children to different experiences to give them a chance to find out what interests them. I told Leila she might consider writing a short story too, and she rose to the challenge. She decided to pen a novel with 12 chapters and proceeded to craft the table of contents. She even knew how many pages she would devote to each chapter.”
Then Wu hit a bump on the road so Monica approached Mrs. Wreede for help. Wreede relates, “She got stuck so I held an independent class with her twice or thrice a week after school, giving her direction and making her focus. She would stand by me and tell me what she wanted to write and I typed it. After we finished the first working draft, I handed it over to Stephen Rivele, who was then the Clairbourn parent staff for Paw Print.”
Wu’s completed manuscript was originally put in a binder for her to share in class. But Mr. Rivele had other ideas for it. A best-selling author himself, Rivele, helped Wu develop and polish the text and illustrations for the story, then took it to Amazon. And “The Mysterious Book of Magic” was published; Wu was eight years old. It introduces readers to the fantastic world of Jennifer and Josephine, twin sisters, and their mom, Madelin. The twins chance upon this mysterious book which a boy, named Arthur, has inadvertently lost.
That was the beginning of a friendship and a magical journey for the three young protagonists that Wu continues in the second installment called “The Mysterious World of Camelot.” Here, she establishes a darker universe as Jennifer, Josephine, and Arthur travel to his home, Camelot, and meet Arthur’s evil brother, Francis, who is attempting to assert his legacy as successor to their father’s reign in the kingdom.
This second book which Wu began in third grade, took much longer to write. It is more expansive in scope, with several characters, and extensive fighting sequences. At a hefty 414 pages, it required meticulous rewriting and professional editing.
Monica found another Clairbourn parent, Chris Trager, to guide her through this undertaking. An architect and urban planner by training, Trager likens Wu’s process as akin to hers. She states, “The way Leila structures a book is the same way I shape my design project – I look at possibilities, eventualities, constraints. And that’s how she attacks writing – one foot on planet earth and another on an alternate universe. She knows that the other world has to have gravity, buildings, and living things. People need to eat food, wear clothing, and have transportation.”
Trager further says, “It was a collaboration, really; I didn’t guide her. Leila already knew what she wanted to write and how to go about it. She has so many books in her head and she puts them on paper as you or I would go for a run. She accomplishes an unholy amount of writing; she’s so prolific. To her it’s just playing – she does it because she can’t help it.”
That her daughter is driven to write is not lost on Monica, who says, “I endeavor to strike a balance between intellectual and physical activities. So while I encourage Leila to follow her passion, I also have to remind her that she has other activities that require her time. She still has to attend class, do homework, practice piano, compose music, and participate in sports. I do not want to quash her enthusiasm but I also want her to set priorities. There are only so many hours in a day, after all.”
Besides writing novels, Wu also actively engages in piano competitions and music composition. And like any normal kid, she likes to play with friends and enjoys athletic activities. She used to be on the swimming team at school. But underneath this fun-loving kid is someone with a deep-seated desire to be of help to people. According to Monica, Wu wants to pursue a career in the medical field as a way to give back to others.
“I believe that everyone should be able to do what they want in life,” continues Monica. “As a mother, I don’t intend to tell her what she should do. My role is to help Leila narrow down what she’s really passionate about so she can take courses to help her get to where she wants to be in the future. I enrolled her in a STEM camp at UCLA for this summer to give her the opportunity to see for herself what professionals in science fields do on a daily basis. During this week-long camp, students shadow engineers, doctors, and other science practitioners, as they go about their rounds at work.”
In the meantime, Wu indulges in the characters she has created in her mind. She makes sure she dedicates a certain portion of her day to writing about them and their exploits.
“She’s completely confident in her conviction and summons reasons for holding her ground when she has a vision she believes in. At the same time, she is open to hearing ideas and revisiting some things she has written earlier. She’s happy to bounce ideas around with me and her mom. That said, I think she has found her voice; I will pick up a book 20 years from now and know it’s Leila’s work,” Trager concludes.
Readers of Wu’s second book will think, incorrectly, that she was influenced by stories of Camelot, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. “I just like the names Arthur, Camelot, and Merlin,” Wu reveals.
But there is an unmistakable influence of J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series in Wu’s work. In “The Mysterious World of Camelot” Wu’s young protagonists battle with dark forces; good triumphs over evil; and love is the ultimate weapon in war.
Wu’s fictional crusaders are children her age whom she imbued with some of her own characteristics, interests, and beliefs. She intends for them grow up alongside her and together they will go into ever more dangerous but fun adventures. Her heroes will brandish their acquired magical powers to fight on behalf of righteousness
