Twitter

By Matthew Peaslee

Melody Devenney worked on a lifelong dream with one of her colleagues and friends. She wrote a book and Alexandra Bowser illustrated it. The teachers in the West Jefferson Hills School District are now at the top of the charts on an Amazon best-sellers list.

Local school teachers, Melody Devenney (left) and Alexandra Bowser have published a book that was the #1 best seller on Amazon’s ‘English as a Second Language’ category.

The book was written by Melody Devenney and was illustrated by Alexandra Bowser.

"Writing a book is something I’ve wanted to do since I was young," Devenney said. "I’ve always enjoyed writing short stories, poems, and letters. I decided in September to officially take the leap to write this children's book. I worked on writing the first draft and making edits every day for two months before passing it along to (Bowser)."

The book, titled 'Filled Perfectly and Wrapped in Culture, A Story of Family, Food and Friends!' was released on January 22 and moved into the No. 1 spot on Amazon's English as a Second Language (ESL) category on Jan. 28. It remained in the top spot for over a week.

"The feedback has been truly amazing," Devenney said. "I’m blessed to have sold more books in the first month than I would have ever imagined selling in the first year. I even have past and present students who have purchased a copy asking me to sign it for them.” 

Devenney is a K-12 ESL specialist with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and is in her first year teaching English to students at Gill Hall Elementary and Jefferson Hills High School. She has been teaching English as a Second Language for the past four years.  Devenney is donating all the profits from the book to a scholarship fund for an Allegheny County ESL student who plans to attend college.

Bowser is in her seventh year as an art educator for K-2 students at Gill Hall and McClellan Elementary schools. Throughout the past 10 years, Bowser has illustrated 10 children's books.

"It was nice working with someone you knew," Boswer said. "It was easy to get into that creative mood and come up with the illustrations."

According to Amazon, the book will give you a glimpse into the life of eight middle school students from around the world trying to find their place in a new country. Not only do they have to learn a new language, they also have to try and fit in with an entirely new culture with different norms. Their ESL teacher is able to see the struggles her students are facing on a daily basis and works hard to show them just how special they are on the inside and outside through the use of food and diversity awareness. In this book you will learn how to find self worth and acceptance of who you really are, all while learning to accept similarities and differences you have with people around you.

• < Prev
• Next >