Awesome! Twelve-Year-Old Montana Girl Writes Best-Selling Book

There must be something in the water. How else can we explain these stories of talented writers that have been coming out of Montana recently? We've been following along with the success of Stephanie Land over the last few months and have shared details as her memoir was being turned into a Netflix miniseries. The show is out now and it's a hit with a few people in our building.  And if you're a fan, you can even get an autographed copy of the memoir from a bookstore here in Missoula.

Write about what you know

It looks like Montana has another up-and-coming superstar when it comes to writing. A twelve-year-old from Three Forks is getting some well-deserved recognition for a children's book she wrote with a story about adoption. Ella Delger used real-life inspiration as she wrote the book based on the experiences of her aunt and uncle traveling to Ethiopia and returning with her adopted cousin. When Ella's aunt and uncle would later move their family away from Montana, she gave her cousin her stuffed koala named Coco. In her book, "Coco Goes To Africa: A Story About Adoption," Coco is a koala that makes the trip to Ethiopia to pick up his new brother.

So talented at such an early age

Once upon a time, my wife and I had the idea of making a children's book. She was a school teacher and had a great idea. We even talked to an artist friend of ours about doing the illustrations. But the idea lost steam and never came to be. So I salute Ella and her grandmother for the efforts of writing, editing, and drawing pictures for the book, beginning when Ella was only in fourth grade. What started as an idea to be a gift for her cousin has ended up being a published work and is now sold worldwide.

It could just be the start

If Ella has her way, Coco might just be getting started on his adventures. The hope is to have a series of books based around the cuddly koala. You can get a copy of "Coco Goes To Africa" by clicking on the photo of the book above.