By JEANNE WALL
Published March 9, 2022 at 1:58 AM Last Updated March 9, 2022 at 1:58 AM
Recognizing amazing young women of all ages during the month of March!
HOLMDEL, NJ - According to Holmdel resident, Biotechnology High School junior, Danielle Lee, 16; she has always been passionate about the environment. So much in fact that Lee wrote a children's story book about environment and animal issues, called Still Waiting. She has been sharing her book with local children, through classroom visits and children's library programs, among other towns, Hazlet and Long Branch.
According to Lee, recently, school districts in NJ such as Tenafly, South Brunswick, Jefferson, and Westfield, contacted her to acquire her book and invite her to their schools for an author talk. Some of these districts are incorporating her book in their curriculum, which will impact more than 1500 young students!
Lee's book is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In addition, Story Monsters Ink, the Scholastic's literary magazine, interviewed her, and will feature her book in an upcoming issue.
Lee plans to write more books for children and environmental/animal issues.
In part, Lee's motivation for writing the book is that she is "Eager to sound the alarm about climate change and global warming." According to Lee, she hopes that once kids understand what’s happening and how urgently change is needed to stop it, they’ll be willing to take the necessary steps to protect the planet’s future.
Still Waiting is a fictional story featuring an endearing and adorable animal family of a young polar bear cub named Ollie who is raised by his mother at the North Pole. Through this book, Lee explains how the actions of humans have disrupted this innocent polar bear family’s natural habitat in a simple way that children can understand. At the conclusion of Still Waiting, Lee added some extra tips for readers and educators, hoping that children will be moved enough by Ollie’s story that will want to know what they can do to make a difference.
The New Jersey Council for Social Studies has recommended Still Waiting to schools. Although Lee has developed her talents and interests in writing and science through the Scholastics Art And Writing Contest, Junior Academy for the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Curious Science Writers, she didn’t expect that what she shares can be this much helpful to the community. Lee is amazed that so many schools are interested in her book, and she is grateful that many kids will be able to read her work and also have a chance to be influenced by it.
Lee made the early decision to write her book in two languages; English and Spanish. A portion of the proceeds from the book sales will go to local environment education programs and organizations.