Over the summer, senior Austin Lin published his own children’s book, The Not-So-Ordinary Recollections of an Ordinary Teenager. The book takes on the perspective of a teenager who moves from California to Connecticut. It is written in a diary format with each ‘chapter’ being different journal entries. The driving force of the plot is the main character’s autistic brother, Herbie, who struggles with acclimating to a new community.

When writing the book, Lin drew inspiration from his personal life and his relationship with his family. He too has an autistic brother and wanted to write it for him.

“My autistic brother was my motivation,” Lin said. “I don’t want him to face bullying or harassment just because he’s different.”

By providing realistic scenarios and journal entries in the book, Lin wanted to make sure that people were able to connect to the characters of the novel. His hope for the readers is that they would learn two vital traits: empathy and compassion.

“I want people to realize that people have differences and that we should respect them,” Lin said. 

However, writing a 146-page book in the middle of high school was no easy task for Lin. The process took around two years and he ran into numerous challenges, one of which was stylistic.

“Finding the mix of keeping the readers engaged while successfully conveying the message was extremely tough,” Lin said.

So far, Lin has sold about 100 copies. 100% of the proceeds goes to AutismSpeaks, an organization that conducts research and spreads awareness on autism.