This 9-year-old author turned her experiences with bullying and eczema into published literature

RICHMOND, Va. -- "I put my emotion into books," 9-year-old Alayah Jenkins said when asked about how she began her writing journey.

Before Alayah and her mother, Ashlee Jenkins moved to the Richmond area, Alayah said she was bullied at her previous school.

To cope with the bullying, Alayah tried multiple outlets to get out her emotions.

"We tried punching a pillow, we tried a lot of different things. But none of it helped. So we put it into books," Alayah said.

At just 9 years old, Alayah has already written three books. Her next publication comes out in December.

The book she wrote about her bullying experience, "The Little Agent and The Three Amigas," detailed her story of being bullied by classmates at school.

In the book, she wrote that "Agent 11" helped her overcome the bullies.

"Agent 11" is a reference to her mother, who came in to speak with her teachers after Alayah mentioned that she was being bullied.

In Alayah's words, her mother "got those mean girls straight."

Aside from bullying, Alayah also credited having eczema as a reason why she started writing books.

"The Little Agent and The Itchy Monster," was another example of Alayah's emotions fueling her writing.

"I kept on getting frustrated because I didn't know where to put my emotion," she said. "So we put that one into a book too."

Yet, of course, Alayah didn't become a published author all on her own.

She said through it all, her mom "encouraged," and "tried to cheer her up" when she was down.

And she helped to rewrite all of Alayah's books to make them sound better.

Ashlee said with her daughter becoming an author at a young age, she had no reservations as a parent.

"I was full-blown 'let's do it,'" she said. "I was a little skeptical about social media, especially coming into this new age of AI. So I was just trying to be cognizant of all of that."

Beyond Alayah's next book release on December 1, she also has a book set to release in 2024 - "The Little Agent and The Big Hair Blues."

Ashlee said her father, who passed away recently, was the inspiration behind the "agent" aspect of Alayah's books.

Ashlee Jenkins

"He was kind of the driving force behind her persona as an agent because they always played together," she said. "He was agent five, and she was agent three, and that was kind of their thing. So we incorporated that before he passed."

Ashlee Jenkins

The best part about writing, Alayah said, was "seeing different people have the same emotions. It helps me encourage myself more to keep reading because they may have more experiences that I've had," she said. "So it might cheer them up to know that they have somebody to look up to."

You can preorder the "The Little Agent and The Big Hair Blues", by clicking here.

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