Fueled by her desire to help those who aren’t represented, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy junior Ella Stevens wrote “A Cape For Candy,” a children’s book designed to raise awareness about the lack of non-binary challenges. She used guidance from the school’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership program and her determination to complete this project.[/caption]

by Ava Szalay

On the outside Ella Stevens seems to lead an ordinary teenage life, her backpack slung over her shoulder, sweatshirt wrapped around her, and her laptop right by her side. What people may not realize is that Stevens, a junior at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, takes on the roles of a hardworking student, activist, and most recently author.

Stevens’ passion for being a leader of Gay-Straight Alliance led her to write her new book, “A Cape For Candy.” This book focuses on a non-binary kid, Candy, who goes on an exciting, super-hero adventure to find a cape. A non-binary person uses “they” and “them” pronouns in order to not associate with any gender and they are a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Stevens saw many of her non-binary friends suffer from depression as a result of not having representation in books and in everyday life. They felt misunderstood and Stevens wanted to change that.

“Every time someone misgenders you or uses the wrong pronoun, it is just like another kick into that sensitive spot, ” she said.

While Stevens worked to create the literature, her non-binary friend, SCH student Whimsy Mark-Ockerbloom, also was playing an important role.

Mark-Ockerbloom is a senior at SCH who eagerly agreed to complete the illustrations for “A Cape For Candy” in order to better get the message across.

“I think illustration and imagery are incredibly important when it comes to any media,” Mark-Ockerbloom said. “You can convey a lot through imagery that you might not be able to convey as efficiently through words.”

Mark-Ockerbloom’s curious and daring personality helped Ella to see things in different ways and helped Candy to develop as a character.

“I just hope this book opens the door for understanding non-binary identities and allowing people of all ages to examine gender and understand people that don't necessarily fit the binary,” Mark-Ockerbloom explained.

Some of Stevens’ non-binary friends were misunderstood and Candy, her character, wasn’t always embraced either. People couldn’t understand and grasp her concept. She was told that her non-binary character was a girl based upon their looks which made Stevens worried that her message wasn’t getting across. After criticism and feedback, Stevens realized how important it was that people adapt to her character and the premise of her book. Stevens used her friends as her inspiration and motivation, but she also used the help of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership program at SCH.

With the guidance of SCH’s CEL Capstone program, Stevens was able to launch her book. The CEL Capstone program is a platform where sophomore students can solve problems they face in innovative ways through design thinking. It consists of four stages: Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver.

“The CEL program helped me look at different aspects of how I could go forward with my project and how I could publish it,” Stevens said.

Through this program, Stevens will be able to publish her book on Amazon self-publishing.

Amazon self-publishing allows Stevens to upload her book and convert it into a Kindle eBook for free and then sell it to readers across the globe. (Selling electronically is less expensive than selling printed copies.) Therefore, her book will be more accessible and reach a wider audience.

“I wanted something that I could put out in the world and not only puts out to the libraries in the school,” he said.

Stevens hopes to go far with this book and raise awareness to all kids and adults about non-binary identities. Her book is set to release on Amazon in October.

Author Ava Szalay is a rising 8th grader at SCH with a passion for writing in addition to soccer and piano. She has experimented with poetry, personal narratives and other forms of writing. She not only used her free time to start her novel, “A Spark of Hope,” but she also used her time to research this article and share it with the readers of the Local.