In a world often dominated by adult voices, it can be easy to overlook the power and creativity that young minds possess.

We’re lucky to work with many young authors every year and have a front row seat to the inspiring ways in which their contagious enthusiasm is manifested through their books and stories.

Today, we’re shining the spotlight on three remarkable teen FriesenPress authors whose diverse books highlight just how far imagination and passion can take us. From a financial literacy guide for young people, to an epic romantic fantasy, to a self-drawn children’s book (and philanthropic mission) born out of volunteerism, the young storytellers highlighted here remind us that age is no barrier to achieving great things.

Without further ado, let’s meet these talented teen wordsmiths!

Talina Papazian | You Taught Me

Hi, Talina! Please introduce yourself and your book to our readers.

Hello everyone! My name is Talina Papazian and I am an 18-year-old writer from Toronto, Ontario.

I am the author and illustrator of You Taught Me, an inclusive children’s book, and the founder of its nationwide accessibility campaign. My goal is to teach young readers about the importance of inclusion and accessibility.

Today, You Taught Me has partnered with several organizations across Canada, including BC Children’s Hospital and the McMaster’s Children’s Hospital, nationwide movements such as Treat Accessibly, and children’s treatment centres such as ErinoakKids. Every single penny we make is donated to support children with disabilities and their families.

Through my work, I have had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at several schools; the best part of what I do is seeing a child’s face light up when they connect with my book. I have also had the pleasure of being a guest author on CTV, Accessible Media Inc. and Radio Canada. And this year, I had the honour of receiving the 2024 Rick Hansen Foundation Difference Maker of the Year award.

What led you down the path toward advocacy and writing You Taught Me? As a first time author and illustrator, what was your creative process?

Can you believe it all started as a rough draft two years ago, with no plans for it to one day be published? The creation of my children’s book to champion inclusion and accessibility was truly just the tip of the iceberg.

The first moment where I discovered the importance of becoming an advocate for inclusion was when my younger brother was diagnosed with a severe anaphylactic nut allergy. Allergies are a type of hidden disability and, after his diagnosis, his interactions in social settings completely changed — he faced a lot of anxiety and social isolation. At the age of six years old, I knew that these social changes weren’t fair but I didn’t exactly know what to do.

At 16 years old, I started volunteering at Holland Bloorview Children’s Rehab Hospital, where I saw that other children were also facing challenges similar to the ones that my brother faced. And this is where I thought, “I think it’s time for me to take action.” These kids had taught me so much over the course of the camp, such as how to be funny, how to be creative, and how to be determined. The words “You Taught Me” were floating in my head, and I thought to myself, “Okay, let’s do this.”

As my volunteer experience led me to discover how I could champion inclusion, it took me just a few days to write the book and create the illustrations. While the words flowed very quickly, the illustrations were where I had to think outside of the box. I wanted to make my illustrations playful, such that young readers could easily connect with the book. I didn’t have an iPad or any other large technological screen to draw on. I decided to draw my illustrations on my phone’s notes app using my finger. While I don’t get to meet all my readers, the ones that I do get to meet always mention that they love the illustrations because they can draw just like me. It is always a very funny moment.

What did it feel like to hold your finished book in your hands for the first time?

It was very surreal! After working on the publication for 9 months through my final year of high school, the book was in my hands the week before I started my first year of university. Seeing it completed in person made the entire idea of being an author very real. I thought to myself, “Wow, the first step of the journey to championing inclusion is complete!” I was so excited to begin the rest of my advocacy journey.

What advice would you give to your fellow aspiring young authors?

I absolutely love this question because paving a path as an author at a young age definitely comes with its unique set of challenges. It’s not something that many people do, but it is very important as I believe that young writers have such a unique voice to bring to the table.

I have definitely learned a lot to get to where I am today. Here are the three pieces of advice that I would share with other young authors:

First, don’t be afraid to ask for help. From publication, to partnerships, to events, I always ask for help because I don’t have all the answers. Asking for help may seem daunting at first because it might be hard to gauge how the other person will react. While some people may doubt your ability to become an author, there will be people who will support you! And even if you make a mistake, still ask for help.

My next piece of advice is to just go for it, even if you don’t know where it will take you. For example, I never imagined that I would start an associated campaign or be translating my book into different languages. It may turn out to be an incredible journey!

And finally, always keep your vision and values at the heart of what you do at every step. Throughout your journey, you will work with so many individuals and organizations. However, not everyone will believe in your vision and values as strongly as you do, and that is completely okay. If you truly believe in and love what you are doing, don’t let others sway your vision and values.

What are you currently working on? Do you have any plans for future books?

So many exciting things are in the works! I’m releasing the Mandarin translation of You Taught Me in a couple of weeks, as well as a French translation in the coming months. In addition, this fall, I have been invited to several schools as a guest author to teach young readers about the importance of inclusion and accessibility through my book. And there might also be a second book coming!

Thanks, Talina! If people want to follow and support your mission, where can they find you?

My book campaign’s Instagram page is @you.taught.me.hb.

100% of our book’s proceeds are donated to support children with disabilities and their families — by purchasing a copy of You Taught Me, you have the opportunity to help the world become a more inclusive and accessible place.

Alex Kulakov | Money Tips for Kids

Thanks for speaking with us, Alex! Care to introduce yourself and your book?

Hello! I’m Alex Kulakov, a thirteen-year-old from Toronto. I wrote Money Tips for Kids — a comprehensive guide for pre-teens on all money matters. 

Money Tips for Kids allows you to understand the world of finance from a kids’ perspective. The book contains easy-to-follow tips on earning, saving, and even investing your money. It teaches you how to negotiate your allowance, set up a bank account, and make smart financial choices. The book was published this April and is already being sold at many retailers such as Amazon, Google Books, Apple Books, Barnes and Nobles, Chapters Indigo, and in many countries. 

What led you to write this book at such a young age?

The idea to write a book came to me when my friends and I were starting to learn and think about money. I have seen that many of us have no idea how to save, manage, and spend responsibly!

Driven by passion for personal finance and inspired by my parents, who work in finance, my brother who is studying business at university in the U.S., and my personal experience with the lack of resources specifically for pre-teens, I decided to share my knowledge and experience to help young readers start their financial journeys successfully. It was obvious that a simple and comprehensive financial guide for kids aged 6–13 is very much needed now more than ever, when more and more kids are keen to master their finances early. My book offers practical advice and gives young kids tools to manage their money and build a foundation for financial success. I also wanted to make sure that the book was colourful and fun to read. Serious topics do not have to be boring!

Did you experience any challenges in writing your book? How did you overcome them?

Being my first publication, I had many learning experiences throughout the process! For instance, I had to pay special attention to integrating advice and facts into fun stories. It was useful to keep in mind the sorts of books my friends and I enjoy reading and make sure I made mine engaging.

At the moment, my biggest challenge is running the social media for my book. Since I have never had a social media account of my own, it has been an especially fun challenge to make one for Money Tips for Kids!

What was it like to hold your book in your hands for the first time?

Holding my book for the first time felt amazing! It was very special to finally be able to hold the product of my hard work. I was overcome with emotions — I was proud and grateful to the people around me who were instrumental to the success of the book: my parents, as well as the professionals at FriesenPress. The whole process was very gratifying, and I cannot wait to continue onto my next book!

What advice would you give to your fellow aspiring young authors?

Follow your passion, do your research, and edit — A LOT! The biggest challenge for me was being disciplined with my writing and scheduling time to work on the book — you do “run out of steam” at some point. The key is to keep working on the book and not let doubts stop you. You will discover so many useful resources to help you and learn a ton of crucial lessons along the way. So, keep writing and see where it takes you! Who knows, you might end up a bestselling author! 

What’s next for Alex? Do you have any plans for future books?

At the moment, my main focus is the promotion of Money Tips for Kids. It’s a steep learning curve — I am discovering that publishing a book is just the beginning of a long journey. Now I am mastering marketing, promotion, and social media. A book is really a small business, requiring time and work.

After I received a lot of positive feedback about Money Tips for Kids and gained valuable experience along the way, I am already making plans for another book; I can’t wait to share it with you!

Thanks for your time, Alex! Where can people find more about you and the book?

You can find information about the book at @moneytipsforkidsbook on Instagram and my website, moneytipsforkids.ca!

Also, I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to my amazing publishing specialists, Fiona Wardhaugh and Frankie Hargreaves, as well as promotions specialist, Justin Billows, at FriesenPress for patiently guiding me along the way.

Julia G.D Gobio, Author of From Dust We Were Born

Hi, Julia! Can you introduce yourself and your book to our readers?

Sure! My name is Julia Gobio; I am 18 years old, and I published From Dust We Were Born when I was 17. I started writing/working on it, however, when I was 13 years old. 

Where did From Dust We Were Born begin?

I initially started writing because I didn’t have very many friends growing up. I had a very overactive imagination (and still do) and many kids my age thought I was weird.

One day I had a dream about the characters in my books and was fascinated with them. I recall thinking to myself, “I don’t fit into this world here — I’ll create my own.” And it took off from there.

From then on, I would completely indulge myself in my writing during any spare time I had (which was a lot during COVID). I would literally work on it for six hours a day sometimes, not leaving my house and becoming a wee bit of a hermit.

Did you experience any challenges in writing your book?

My biggest challenge when it came to writing was being afraid to completely let myself go and not fear judgement. I was worried that when people read my writing, they’d think it was gruesome, awful, boring, or maybe even cringe-worthy. I was also extremely afraid of my parents’ disapproval. However, they became my literally biggest supporters ever, telling me not to hold back. So I didn’t. I wrote everything down. A lot of my writing was influenced by something I’d either experienced or felt in that moment. If I was feeling  anger while I was writing, nine times out of ten (it was usually Hiraeth who got the perspective), my character was also very angry.

I overcame this challenge by forcing myself to simply not care. This is my story, and my writing. Not everyone is going to love it, and that’s okay. What’s important is that I love it. And I really really do — I fell in love with my world.

What did it feel like to persevere through those doubts and hold your book in your hands for the first time?

Holding my finished book in my hands felt as though I was holding a newborn child. You’re iffy and super super gentle with it, and afraid to drop it…but I was also ecstatic! I was overcome with thousands of different emotions. I was crying tears but also jumping for joy (like, okay relax) and hugging my entire family while mumbling incoherent sentences that I don’t actually think were made up of real words. 

Did you learn any lessons your fellow aspiring young authors might benefit from?

If I could give any advice to young authors it really would be (and this is so cliché, so I apologize): to be yourself. Be uniquely you. Put those odd and off-putting parts of your soul into your book and amp them up to a thousand.

Let the world see you through your writing. It’s your magic. It’s your story. Don’t hold back.

What’s next for you, Julia? Do you have any plans for future books?

I’m loving this question because I have so many plans.

I’m currently working on the second novel because the From Dust series is going to be a duology. From there, I am going to make a few novels based on some of the side characters’ backstories. Nesrin is quickly becoming a very popular character amongst my audience so I am creating a story based on their backstory — a dive into how Nesrin came to be.

Unfortunately, these projects will be in the works for a long time as I am headed to university and most of my time will be eaten up by schooling and such. But I’ll return to them eventually!

Julia can be found on Instagram at @julia_g.d_gobio

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