Raisa Tuzo?s essay, ?Sowing the Seeds of Love?, which was written for the Global Arts and Entertainment competition in 2003, has been published into a book.

The 15-year-old author will be signing copies of book tomorrow morning at The Bookmart at the Phoenix Centre.

Ms Tuzo ready the essay before dignitaries at the United Nations.

Her former middle school teacher, Ellen Kelly, was so proud of the youngster?s writing ability that she decided to get it published.

Ms Kelly said she first met Ms Tuzo when she taught her at Dellwood Middle School.

?She was quiet and reserved,? she said. ?Her attitude was straight forward and her demeanour was that of a student who was ready to meet the challenges of Language Arts.

?I taught her for one year and during that year she expressed much of her thoughts and feelings through her writing. She possessed the ability turn a topic into a masterpiece, demonstrating her love of the written word.?

Ms Kelly said Ms Tuzo has the ability to identify with her subjects on a personal level.

?She connected each topic with her own personal life and it proved to be a strength and a release for her,? she said.

?Her insight of life with its many ups and downs is so clearly expressed by her. She is insightful and profound.

?I?ve been blessed to have met such a talented student. I knew that I had to share her with the rest of Bermuda and this would serve as a springboard for her other stories to be published.?

Ms Tuzo?s strives to improve her craft. She currently works for the Bermuda Sun as a youth writer, but in the future she plans to write and direct plays and publish other books of plays and short stories.

The Warwick Academy student said the title of the book ?chose itself? since it was the name of an essay competition she entered and won.

?It?s written from a child?s perspective,? she said, ?And it?s about ... asking the adults in our lives to help us to be the best we can be and to help make the world a better place.?

Ms Tuzo said it took her about a week to hone the piece into a winning essay.

?I had to keep leaving it and coming back to it to change things,? she said, ?Because I was really focusing on the imagery of the essay.

?I had to think like a garden.?

So what?s it like to have a book published at such a young age?

?I?m thankful to my mom, Dionne Tuzo, for passing on the gift of writing, to Ms Kelly for pushing me further than I wanted to go and to Global Arts for all of the exposure and opportunities they have given me. It?s nice to have people who have supported me.?

Ms Tuzo said people shouldn?t be so quick to give up on her generation.

?We?re not as lost as many would believe. We have feelings, opinions and some very good ideas.

?We are talented and we don?t have to wait until we are adults to display our talents. This book is a perfect example of what could happen when adults and children work together, listen to each other and respect each other.