Palmer Trinity junior Delaney Reynolds is already a published author. Reynolds finished her first book My Animals Friends on No Name Key when she was nine years old. She wrote and drew the pictures.
Her second book, My Fish Friends Near No Name Key, was published when she was in the sixth grade. Her third book, My Flying Friends of No Name Key, was published when she was in eighth grade.
“I did it through a website called Blurb,” she says.
The books are all available and can be checked out through the Monroe County Library system.
She is now writing a new book Sink or Swim geared to the non-fiction young adult market. The book deals with the problems of climate change and how it is causing the rise of the sea level. It will include graphs, scientific data and real stories about the problem.
“From people I’ve met and interviewed,” she says. “Random House said they would take a look at my book.”
On her website, Reynolds says the book is focused on educating her generation about the “very real impact sea level rise is already having on South Florida.”
The book also will deal with what Reynolds’ generation will need to do about climate change.
“I’m expecting it to be done by the end of the summer,” she says.
Reynolds’ interest began when she would go with her family to their house in the Keys, which is on a canal that leads to the Gulf of Mexico.
“We try to go to the Keys as often as possible,” she says. “We go a lot in the summer. I would see the effects of the sea level rise.”
How? By the height of the water level under the dock.
“I saw pictures of the difference in the height of the dock – probably a half-foot,” she says.
That increase worried her. Especially when she thought about what things might be like when she is older and has children.
Her concerns led her to create a website about the effects of climate change. At www.MiamiSeaRise.com, she lists organizations that are working toward finding solutions to climate change and dealing with the rise of the sea level. She also lists articles about the dangers of the sea level rise and information from governments that are working on solutions.
“It’s a non-profit and there is a page on the website where you can donate,” she says.
All of the work Reynolds has done to promote the environment has made people take notice. She has been asked to give speeches about her work. She has given one at Palmer Trinity School and another at the University of Miami. She recently spoke at Pinecrest Gardens.
“I gave two speeches to crowds of teachers,” she says. “One was at a teacher’s conference in Orlando where I was the first child speaker.”
Reynolds’ parents help her by driving her to locations for scheduled speeches and the helped her publish her first book when she was nine years old. Reynolds also reached out to politicians about the issue, including Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner.
At Palmer Trinity, Reynolds is a member of the Wildlife Conservation Club and she has been vice president of the Eco Club and the Marine Club. She is in line to be president of the Marine Club in her senior year.
By Linda Rodriguez Bernfeld
