(11/17/2023) Students spend years reading books, few publish their own. Braylan Allison, a senior at Anoka High School, published a novel titled “Lunar” during her freshman year and has plans to publish a second book in the trilogy early next year. 

The book is a fictional story of a teenager, Roselnn, and her struggles of not only navigating high school while transforming into a werewolf. The premise may sound familiar, but Allison said she wanted to find a unique take on the genre.

“It’s a supernatural type story with a little bit of mystery,” Allison said. “I didn’t want it to be like ‘Twilight’ because it had been done a thousand times, so I took a little different approach.”

Allison started writing the story during her English Language Arts (ELA) class in seventh grade and after working on it for a couple of years, was encouraged by her mom to publish the book.

“I’ve always been a big reader,” Allison said. “Writing was something I thought was interesting because I could come up with my own ideas. I’ve also learned recently there is a big line of writers in my family.”

Last month, Allison visited a seventh grade ELA class at Anoka Middle School for the Arts (AMSA) to inspire a new generation of young writers. During her visit with the students, she answered questions about the writing process, editing and how to create a story. She also helped students with their own suspense stories.

Allison said the 200 physical copies of “Lunar” she ordered are out in the world and after her visit to AMSA, more copies will be ordered. “Lunar” is available by order, digital download and at the Anoka County Library. Visit her website to learn more about “Lunar.”