ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Many High Schoolers have a wide variety of activities they normally do, from participating in high school sports, clubs, going to work after school, or simply going home. One St. Louis high schooler decided to write a book.
Grace Wolf is a senior at Clayton High School and most recently, she wrote a book titled 'May I Sit At The Table'. The book is about a young elementary school girl named Abby who is deaf and works to form friendships with others at the school despite her struggles to communicate with others.
Wolf wrote the book alongside her older brother Samuel, who is autistic.
Wolf says her brother experiences dealing with autism drew plenty of inspiration for the book.
"Growing up with him(who is 16 years older than her), I would be in public and he has a very robotic voice when he speaks, and when he talks, people tend to stare, some people are laughing at him," said Wolf, "It was very upsetting for me to see someone so close to me, someone I love so much be excluded and made fun of."
Wolf, who is a part of the St. Louis Publishers Association, says that she has always had a knack and passion for writing, dating back to her days in elementary school, writing a book for her math teacher called 'I Love Math', but ultimately the support of those around her drew to write the book.
"I felt like that I had a story that needed to be shared," said Wolf, "I had the support of my teachers, classmates, my family and I decided to write it."
The biggest message that Wolf says she wants to spread is one of inclusion and empathy, especially to younger kids.
"Kids need to be taught to treat everyone nicely," said Wolf, "I think adults have the perception that their kids have their own friends, own friend group, and therefore, when they have birthday parties or sit in the lunch table, their only sitting with their own friends. But I really think that everyone should be able to sit with anyone, and we should stop these groups and clicks from forming at early ages because they are very harmful."
Wolf also wants to help people feel comfortable and not conform to social pressure or social anxiety.
"I think many kids feel social anxiety and social pressure to fit in and be with other people and I think its really consuming," said Wolf, "When you're in elementary and middle school, whatever age, school is your life, your job. So when your experiencing being with friends and such, I think about it outside of school because that is a big part of my day and my life."
Wolf says that while the book was primarily targeted for third-grade students, ultimately, it a social story for everyone.
"I've had middle school teachers reach out to me and want to include the book in their curriculum," said Wolf, "I've had adults come up to me and be like 'This is great for me personally to learn something about inclusion."
The book 'May I Sit At the Table' is available on Amazon and
Barnes and Noble.