Spotlight on Anthony Conroy

by Gina Conroy

When I mentioned to my son, Anthony, that Sylvan Dell Publishing was having a writing contest for home schoolers, I never expected him to win first place. But like many times in his 10 years, Anthony surprised me.

As a writer myself, I thought the contest was a great way to inspire creative writing. Anthony’s younger brother had just entered the Reading Rainbow Book contest, and Anthony really wanted to participate, but he was too old. Then, when I got the e-mail indicating that Sylvan Dell Publishing was holding a similar contest, Anthony jumped at the opportunity to write his own book.

“I was excited to have a chance at this book contest because I thought writing a book would be fun,” says Anthony.

After explaining the guidelines to Anthony, he didn’t mention the project for a while. I wondered if he was even working on a story. Then one day he came to me with a finished product and asked me to type it for him. I looked at the deadline for the contest. I only had one day to get it in. Before I typed, I read over the story and was impressed by Anthony’s ability to rhyme. However,t I doubted his math skills and made him recheck all his math facts.

“When I used my calculator and I was done,” reflects Anthony, “I found out I got every one right.”

We were on vacation in Pensacola, Florida, with limited Internet access when we received the e-mail saying Anthony had won first place. Everyone was excited and surprised.

“I couldn’t believe I had won,” says Anthony. “From all the other people, it was me. The next best thing to winning was that I lost three teeth that day.”

During home school writing assignments, Anthony would often complain when he had to write boring paragraphs, but he loved the creative writing assignments and poetry lessons.

“When you can write fictional things, it is a lot funner than writing a boring paragraph,” he says.

Yet, writing Anthony’s winning entry, Jumping Bugs, didn’t come easy to him.

“I started thinking and came up with an idea about writing a book on the human body,” remembers Anthony. “But that didn’t work out because it became too complicated and hard to explain. I like math and I was just thinking about jumping bugs one day. The idea just sucked me in, so I wrote it. Rhyming books are always better than boring books that don’t rhyme, and most children’s books rhyme.”

Anthony started making up a rhyme in his head. He incorporated addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and humor into his little tale of jumping bugs. “The hardest part was finding a word to rhyme with a number that I hadn’t used already.”

Upon finishing his story, Anthony was excited. “My mom kept telling me it was a really creative book,” he says, “but she told me a lot of kids would be entering, so I might not win.”

After Anthony thought about all the other kids’ books, he got a nervous. Still, he had confidence that Jumping Bugs could be a winner. And it was. Now Anthony’s hoping it will be published by Sylvan Dell Publishers.

“Last I heard,” says Anthony, “it had a one in 58 chance of being published in 2009.”

Anthony started home school in 2nd grade. Though he did well in private school and his teachers always had great things to say about him, Anthony says he had always wanted to give home schooling a try. I knew Anthony was smart, but once we started home schooling, his inquisitiveness and insight caught me off-guard. I never realized how gifted Anthony was until he bombarded me with endless questions and deep insight for a child well beyond his years. He was always eager to learn and share his knowledge of subjects. And often, Anthony wanted to know more about a subject.

Yet, there’s more to Anthony than academics and writing. He’d much rather build with K’Nex or create a woodworking project than write. When he’s not working with his hands, you can find Anthony at the gym, working on his tumbling routine or practicing on the equipment.

“Gymnastics is really hard and sometimes it gets boring,” says Anthony, “but the most fun part is when I get done learning a trick and I’m able to perform it on my own.”

Anthony has also graced the stage of several community theater musicals. His biggest parts include Chip from Beauty and the Beast and Oliver from Oliver Twist. And he has his sights set on a bigger stage.

“I really like watching Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader and would love to be on it.”

Whether Anthony wants to be in the Olympics or on an academic team, I know he’ll try his best to succeed— and I won’t be surprised when he does.

Gina Conroy is a mother of four, a freelance writer and founder of Writer Interrupted, a blog community for new and seasoned writers. She shares her experiences trying to balance having a career with raising kids on her blog, Portrait of a Writer...Interrupted. Her co-authored books include Reach for Your Dreams, Graduate and Anytime Prayers for Everyday Moms. Currently, Conroy is working on a mystery novel for adults.