Minnesota boy with Asperger's, 9, publishes holiday book

From KARE-TV:

PRIOR LAKE, Minn. -- Nine-year-old Davis Smith (pictured) couldn't wait to tear into the non-descript cardboard box that arrived on his parent's doorstep. Inside the box were 30 books. 30 brand new books, each one the same, each one with glossy red cover.

"I have no idea, lots of wild ideas come into my mind," Smith said. The books were his own; 90 pages of complex dialogue divided into 12 chapters, written by a 9 year old with Asperger's, an autism spectrum disorder.

"I'm pretty proud; very proud, beaming," his mother said while sharing the sofa with her published author son.

Davis was diagnosed with Asperger's when he was four. Shortly after that, he began a creative process that hasn't let up. He's written lyrics for songs, concepts for museums, and a number of books and movie screenplays. His first published work, The Holiday Series #1 New Year's Eve, was completed before his self imposed deadline of Christmas last year.

"Ah, I'm going to write this for fun and then a year later I'm sitting here with a news camera in front of me and I'm like what? How did this happen?" he mused. He's using D.C. as his pen name.

His mentor, a teacher at In the Company of Kids Creative Arts Center in Burnsville, says Davis made it happen. "There are no disabilities. There are only abilities and that young man is a clear example. He's priceless and I'm speechless, because he always keeps me in awe," Kathleen Theis said.

The book is about an 8 year old boy who loves holidays, but always finds himself in the middle of a holiday disaster. New Year's is the first in a planned series. Davis' cousin, Serena Lins, provided the illustrations for the book.

Davis was planning on autographing copies of the book at "In the Company" on Monday the 16th. You can pick up a copy of his inaugural offering at www.lulu.com/spotlight/dcsmith. He's selling the books for $8.99 and he'll donate 10% of his take towards autism research.

D.C. will keep writing, but he's not going to stop there. "I hope to be an astronomer, maybe, or an astronaut, and a scientist... maybe a chef," he concluded.