LUTZ, Fla. — "I've always been a big reader, and I'm a big writer, you know, LA (language arts) is my favorite subject. And I remember, a lot of the times when I would read books, I would always wonder, what would it be like to you know, be the person who wrote this book."
Taylor Jackson isn't the only Lutz Preparatory School student that loves to read, but she might be the only one to publish a book.
"I remember one day, I came home from school, and my mom, she had just said it to me out of the blue, she was like, Taylor, what if you wrote a book?" Jackson said.
And so, she did.
Her book, "Mama Said," was published in 2019. Jackson said it's about her, in a way.
"'Mama Said' is about me, but a fictional me. And it's based off of like, how I tend to overthink a lot," she said.
Jackson's friend said she's always been a passionate person but they didn't even know she wrote a book, no one did! That is until her mom let it slip.
"You would have never known that Taylor wrote a book. Not at all. It was not until her mother actually shared that with me," Assistant Principal Brian Bethune said. "We were in the midst of a ceremony, award ceremony, where Taylor was getting for her grace, actually. And I was able to highlight it at that point to say, Hey, everyone this is Taylor Jackson. She wrote, she's an author, and a published author and she was so embarrassed for us but it was so funny and it was great to be able to again, just highlight those things that kids typically would not."
Bethune said Lutz Preparatory School is committed to bringing out the best in all its students.
"Our kids here, they have so many talents and gifts that we don't have any clue what they, you know, what they are until they show it to us. But we do try to give him those opportunities to, to shine. And that's mainly through our leader in me program."
In addition to writing and reading, Jackson is also a runner. She holds records in the 200-meter dash.
