8th grade author writes self-help book after overcoming health battle

MORROW, Ohio — The pandemic is bringing more attention to kids’ mental health. One teen is now trying to help through a new book she wrote.

Nyla Barnes is not only packing up books for her eighth grade classes in Cincinnati, but she’s signing her own books.

“My book is a self-help book. It’s mostly focusing on mental wellness and mental health,” said Nyla.

She wanted to write about ways kids can manage stress and anxiety because the 13-year-old said she started facing those challenges when she was 2.

“When I was younger, they thought I’d be autistic cause I have sickle cell disease,” said Nyla.

Her parents said they feared the worst.

“In the beginning, it was difficult not knowing. Doctors telling us one thing. We weren’t really fully understanding what the future looked like, how we were gonna help her, so it was scary at first,” said Nyla’s father, Duran Barnes.

With their support, therapy, schooling and writing, Nyla gained confidence.

“It’s amazing. It really just shows that you have to keep the faith,” said Nyla’s mother, Nicole Barnes.

“I remember I was in my room, I had a little piece of paper and I just listed 20 things positive, and I went to my mom and said ‘hey, I wanna write a book,’ and she said ‘let’s do it,'” said Nyla.

Nyla said she hopes her book will help other kids overcome their challenges too with her book titled “Hi, Bye.”

“‘Hi’ represents the part where you introduce new positive things into your life and ‘Bye’ is where I’m basically telling you what things in your life to get rid of to make your life more healthy and positive and joyful,” said Nyla.

She said this book is just the beginning.

“This book helps me realize that I could do anything, and anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it,” said Nyla.

You can find her book on Amazon here.