By Maya A. Jones, The Undefeated
The following first appeared on ESPN’s The Undefeated.
Little brothers can be a lot to handle.
They can be fussy, hardheaded, rambunctious and, well, downright annoying. But 8-year-old Nia Mya Reese has mastered caring for her kid brother, Ronald Michael, 5. Her book, How to Deal with and Care for Your Annoying Little Brother, has become a top 10 best-seller on Amazon, and the No. 1 on the siteโs sibling relationships section.
The idea for the book came last year after students in Nia Myaโs first-grade class were assigned to write about something in which they were an expert. Nia Mya thought about the joys and woes that come with being a big sister. After reading the assignment, Reeseโs mother, Cherinita Reese, encouraged her daughter to continue working on her story beyond the classroom.
โWork on your sentences,โ Cherinita Reese said during an interview with CBS Evening News. โWork on the spelling, work on the way that itโs worded. And that will be your summer project.โ
The book includes lessons of love, patience and care, based upon Nia Myaโs experiences while dealing with her little brother. According to AL.com, Nia Myaโs cousin, Faith Martin, was enlisted to sketch the illustrations. The book was published by Yorkshire Publishing on Nov. 30, 2016.
Since then, Nia Myaโs days have been filled with interviews, book signings and enjoying the success of her first project.
โItโs kind of surreal,โ Cherinita Reese told AL.com. โI think the best way to explain it is, you know, youโre supposed to be walking on this path, and then it happens.โ
Maya Jones is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a native New Orleanian who enjoys long walks down Frenchmen Street and romantic dates to Saints games.
