The 8-year-old attends Saratoga Elementary School and participated in the school's Young Authors' Fair on April 26. She was chosen by her teacher, Julie Kwok, to read part of her book aloud in front of parents, teachers and students from four second-grade classrooms during an assembly in the multipurpose room.

The purpose of the project was to inspire young students in grades K­5 to write, edit and publish their own stories and poetry. In doing so, it enhanced their appreciation for literature, according to Principal Marybarbara Zorio.

Stacey Szenda said she couldn't have been more proud of her daughter. Stacey said Melissa's book was about her pet rabbit.

"She got the bunny from Santa," Stacey said. "The plot is about her and her bunny, Prancer, who finds a fairy in an old trunk, and the fairy gives her the ability to talk to her bunny for a short amount of time."

The imaginative story was just one of many that audience members listened to during the assembly. Stories ran the gamut from recipe books, to funny stories fathers have told their children, to movie reviews, to accounts of the Gold Rush and science-fiction tales.

"It gives the children at this age an enormous start on public speaking and self-esteem," Stacey said.

Zorio explained that two students from each grade level will go on to represent the school at the county level of competition on May 15 at Pioneer High School in San Jose. Judges will critique the books, and then the students may have the opportunity to compete at state and national levels of the fair.

But Zorio said teachers didn't want to stress the competition. All the students work hard on their books, not just the 12 children going to the county contest, Zorio said, so the school wanted a way to showcase every student's talent.

Saratoga parents Simon and Teresa Zarrin came up with the idea to hold one assembly per grade levels 2­5 every month over the past few months as a way to display all the books. First-graders and kindergartners met in small group assemblies and in their classrooms to read their books aloud.

"It's an opportunity for all of us in the audience to see and to hear what exemplary writing looks like and sounds like," Zorio said.

The Zarrins fashioned two Roman columns for the students to stand between on the stage of the multipurpose room, dressing the columns up with garlands and ribbon to add to their importance. Teresa said they just wanted a way for the kids to feel confident when they read their books at the microphone and to be acknowledged for their efforts. All the books were placed on exhibition for audience members to review during a reception following the assembly.

The books were written at school, without parental assistance, Zorio said, and included creative pictures, words and expressions.

Second-grader Daniel Johnston, who wrote The Lost Jewel, cleared his throat at the microphone multiple times before informing the audience he got the idea for his adventure book from Indiana Jones movies and was dedicating it to Harrison Ford.

Second-grade teacher Cindy Harris, like all the teachers who spoke, said it was difficult to choose the students who would read aloud during the assembly, since they were all talented writers. Parents in the audience held camcorders and cameras to capture the literary experience.

"I was impressed with how the second-graders were able to develop such good stories," said parent Matt O'Keefe, whose daughter, Madeleine, read a portion of her book, The Rainbow Over the Treetops. "When I was in second grade I could never have put together a full paragraph, let alone a book."