Kerr, youngsters collaborate

When Harrison Kerr was in Sue Hopkins' second-grade class at Mount Pleasant Academy, his mother, Mary Gordon Kerr, volunteered to spend the year working with the students on writing a book.

When she had problems finding a publisher for the finished product, she started a company, High Tide Publishing, and published "The Mystery of the 13th Coin" in 2008, when the students were in the fourth grade.

When her younger son, Will, was in Hopkins' class, Kerr, who has a degree in journalism, again repeated the effort. This time, they wrote the children's fantasy- adventure, "What Lies Beneath the Whirlpool of Time." The novel, aimed at ages 8-12, was published in August.

" 'The Mystery of the 13th Coin' was published while this group of students was in the class, so they were really intrigued by imagining themselves in that situation," Kerr says.

She started the process by writing the first chapter of an open-ended adventure.

"I read them the first chapter that I had written and

explained that I'd like them

to be involved in the process," she says. "Each week, I would read a chapter, and as the story went on, I would try to incorporate their ideas into the plot. Some were specific ideas, and some were theme ideas."

The story is about a boy who finds a corked bottle at the beach and the adventure that ensues as he tries to find out more about it.

The time-travel tale includes local history and a subplot about a bully. The characters interact with the doomed crew of the Confederate submarine CSS Hunley and possibly can change Civil War history.

"The characters face interesting issues about the Civil War and why it was fought," she says. "I was impressed with the kids' thoughts on those things and their thoughtful discussion."

Kerr says the project taught the children more than the writing process.

"I was committed to making it happen for those kids because I wanted them to have a tangible example that they could accomplish anything if they took it one step at a time and kept after it," she says. "I wanted them to see that we took it one chapter at a time each week and ended up with something at the end."

The students are now in the fourth grade.

"It's also an example of sometimes you have to wait for things to happen," she says of the project.

Kerr says she enjoys collaborating with the students.

"A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that I did this project with second-grade kids," she says. "It's amazing what kids can do, and Ms. Hopkins is so supportive and enthusiastic about it. She really saw the value of a program like this."

Look for a third novel in a couple of years: Kerr's daughter, Molly, is in Hopkins' class.

Brenda Rindge can be reached at 937-5713 or at brindge@postandcourier.com.