The Write Path: Three Cedar Ridge High School Students Make Waves as Published Authors

By: Lila Rhoades | OCS Student Intern 

Three senior International Baccalaureate (IB) students at Cedar Ridge High School (CRHS) are making their marks as published authors this year, all of them recently releasing works from poetry to fiction. 

Ashlyn Tyll has published over six books, with her first book released when she was just in eighth grade. She said the desire to escape this world and create her own was the driving force behind her work. 

“I’ve always kind of wanted to live in a world that wasn’t this one,” she said. “Creating my own worlds and own characters is kind of like a way to express myself creatively [and] gain control over reality.” 

In order to get physical copies of her books, Tyll used Lulu Printing and the Library of Congress to obtain an International Standard Book Number, better known as an ISBN - solidifying her status as a published author. 

“I did every step,” Tyll said. “I designed the cover, I organized everything, formatting, editing, and copywriting.” 

Tyll’s most recent book, “The Echo & the Answer” follows the journey of a young rune-weaver named Echo, who encounters forests, strange creatures, and magic to reclaim her village that was stolen from her.

“I like the idea that people can do what they want and be powerful and be able to express themselves without their identities being changed because of it,” Tyll said. “I try to implement that in my own book and characters.”

While Ashlyn Tyll used her own resources and writing skills to bring fictional worlds to life, Caroline Welty took a different path, co-authoring “The Math Tutor’s Handbook” with her grandfather Steve Leinwand. 

Leinwand, a retired math teacher and Welty, a student and tutor, combined their knowledge, skill sets, and freely available nationwide data to create a book that would instill confidence in young readers who may be falling behind in math. 

She decided to co-author this book as she continued to encounter challenges while tutoring students in math. 

“My grandparents were able to help me, but there was just no literature to help me improve my tutoring. And so, in 10th grade I decided I wanted to do something about that,” she said. 

Welty and Leinwand took their book to Corwin Publishing, a company dedicated to “helping educators make the greatest impact through sustained professional learning,” according to their website. 

“We got assigned an editor, and they changed the book drastically. But, it was a great experience for how book writing works.”

“The Math Tutor’s Handbook” was published on October 12, 2024 and is available in both hardcopy and e-reading formats. 

Sierra Godfrey published a book titled “Tone Shift,” a collection of poems which chronologically documents 17 months of her life and serves as a reflection of the transitional period she experienced. 

With her mother’s support as an editor, Sierra was able to bring her new book to publication on September 14, 2024. 

She viewed poetry as a medium and creative outlet to process obstacles she encountered such as mental health, life changes, and loss of identity.

Godfrey said both her sister and mother are writers, and she’s always enjoyed their style. Yet as she’s written more, she’s noticed her style is “within free verse format” and also includes rich imagery in addition to alliteration and repetition. 

“It’s about change,” she said. “Not just necessarily overcoming it, but also adapting to it.” Godfrey also adds that it’s “common to think that [life] is just hurdles to overcome, but if you see change as a positive thing, then that can be much more influential.” 

Throughout the process of editing and revising, she said began to learn more about herself. 

“It has shown me I’m stronger than I think; I’ve come a long way since a year and a half ago. I hope readers take away that you’re not limited to where you’re at now, even if it’s hard to see the future,“ she said.