Mattie Stepanek's mother writes book about her famous poet son with muscular dystrophy

From "Good Morning America" on ABC:

Mattie Stepanek was a world-renowned poet whose mission in life was nothing short of promoting world peace. He died just before his fourteenth birthday, after battling a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Before his death, he inspired everyone from waitresses to firefighters, from Oprah Winfrey to former president Jimmy Carter.

Now, five years later, his mother, Jeni Stepanek, pays tribute to his life in a new book, Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs. (The two are pictured.)

"Mattie's body passed away five years ago but I wrote this book because Mattie's life is not about loss," Jeni Stepanek said Nov. 2 on "GMA." "His legacy is getting bigger every year. It was time to share the true story of his life."

She said from the time he was a small child, Mattie felt that his "purpose for being on earth was to be a messenger, to make people smile despite challenges."

The book is "going to make you laugh," she said. "It will make you cry in a few places ... but people need to understand that Mattie was an ordinary child who made extraordinary choices. Mattie's message is alive and each of us can choose to be a messenger."