Imagine a young 12-year-old Nora Mehadi, now a senior at Patriot High School, writing a draft on “a random day in the summer” before eighth grade, only to see it materialize into a published book. Now a full-fledged author, Mehadi’s book is available for purchase on major book retailers such as Books-A-Million, Amazon, and more.

In her own words, “‘Rewrite’ is a mystery [Young Adult] YA novel that is written in three different timelines. It’s about a group of six friends who become suspects of murder in their sophomore year of high school, which changes their small town’s perception of them completely. Right after they graduate high school, they go on a trip that helps unfold not only the crime at large, but also unmasks deeply woven secrets and troubles within the friendships.”

From a young age, Mehadi recalls starting, editing, and scratching hundreds of stories. But there was always something different about the characters in “Rewrite.” The relationships between the characters stuck with Mehadi and influenced her to return to the story when she turned 15. Scripts of the story were edited as she wrote, allowing Mehadi to pursue publication soon after she finished.

Mehadi has been enrolled in journalism classes since freshman year and credits the class and two teachers for nourishing her passion for writing.

Aleda Weathers, journalism teacher, challenged Mehadi to continue to improve her skills by writing on topics she was unfamiliar with. Andrea Yarbough, Advanced Placement literature teacher, helped to rekindle Mehadi’s interest in reading. Yarbough’s enthusiasm for the literary works she shared with her students in class motivated Mehadi to think about plotlines and other literary elements and ultimately pursue her own writing again.

“Both of these teachers have not just made me a better student through their classes but have also fueled my love for stories through their teaching, which is something I’m forever grateful for,” affirmed Mehadi.

This year, Mehadi serves as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. She acknowledges writing for different columns in the school’s newspaper helped strengthen her style and voice.

Showing a lot of self-awareness and introspection, Mehdi reflected on what it meant to see her book come to life. “I think above everything, it taught me a lot about myself. I spent so much of my childhood looking forward to my teenage years and imagining what kind of person I’d become. For me, the most natural way that I was able to learn and decode the kind of person I am, was through language. Watching my idea become a story, then a rough draft, then a final text, and finally a real, physical book showed me that this is the sort of thing I was meant for. ‘Rewrite’ means so much to me because it showed me that writing is what I have the patience to put my efforts into—growing from a seed to flowerbed, and that is the lasting personal impact.”