Northville Author Wins National Award for Anti-Bullying Adventure Story

Northville resident and working mom Lori Costew won a Silver Medal in the 2013 Readers’ Favorite Book Contest in the Pre-Teen category for her novel, "Sherpa’s Adventure: Saving the Future." 

She received this prestigious award in a ceremony held at the Miami Book Fair, the largest Book Fair in the United States, according to a news release.

Costew said her adventure book for tweens and early teens almost wrote itself. She said she wondered how to give her children, who are in Northville's elementary schools, tools and ways to cope.

"The bullying won't stop per se, but we can teach kids how to react to it," she said.

It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students, and 35 percent of kids have been threatened online based on data from the National Education Association, the release said.

“This is such a serious issue, yet I found most anti-bullying books are academic or written specifically about bullying. I chose to focus on the sweet spot of wrapping positive messages into a fun adventure story in order appeal to kids.  Woven throughout the story are tools and techniques to help kids make positive decisions.  The reviews online and feedback from voracious readers, reluctant readers, parents, grandparents and educators has been amazing,” Costew said in the release. 

"Sherpa’s Adventure: Saving the Future" is a futuristic story about a 16-year-old girl from the 24th century where cars fly and robots clean bedrooms. However, her life changes forever when she is tasked with stopping an evil dictator and his transfiguring HuBots from destroying world peace.  She travels through time, helping historical figures like Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong when they were kids about to make a mistake that would change history forever. Sherpa then visits the 21st century and meets two "tweens;" together they must save Pineville Middle School from a cyber-bullying attack.  

The characters learn that helping others, even those that aren’t famous, can set off a chain of events that will impact the world in a positive way, the release said. 

“... what is most satisfying are the comments by kids that the story keeps them so engaged that they keep reading.  And when they keep reading, they start putting themselves in the characters shoes and realize kids can make a difference and choices impact lives.  Winning the Readers Favorite Award was such an honor and I hope it will help shine a light on the importance of positivity," Costew said.

Sherpa fans will be excited to learn that the second book in the series, "Sherpa’s Adventure: Destroying the Hologram," will be available in March. Those who haven't yet read the first book can find "Sherpa’s Adventure: Saving the Future" in all Northville elementary and middle school libraries, the Northville District Library, or on sale at Amazon and The Next Chapter Bookstore & Bistro.  You can contact the author at sherpakids@comcast.net for more information.

Read more about Costew and her novel in this previous story on Northville Patch.

Have you read the book? Will you buy it for your kids? Post a comment below.