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On Wednesday morning, Gardner Newman Middle School held a special book signing. In front of a full crowd of students, teachers and school board members the authors, Mikayla Olajubutu and Tiffany Fannin, read their book ‘Sassie Goes on a Black History Journey.’

The signing was extra special because Olajubutu is a seventh grader at Gardner Newman. The student co-wrote the book with her mother, Fannin. The duo, along with a Sassie mascot, greeted the audience in the school’s media center.

“It was great because we love to spend time together, and it was just nice to write something and be creative,” Olajubutu said of the experience co-writing with her mom.

The book follows Sassie, a bunny, that travels through time learning from important figures in Black History. Olajubutu told the crowd that Sassie stands for Scholar, Achiever, Successor, Supporter, Innovator and Educator.

The idea, said Fannin, started in 2013 inspired by her daughter. Throughout the years the idea had been thrown around, but it was when Olajubutu came to her mom asking to write a book that the image took form.

“I always wanted to write a clip or just draw…I realized that basically, it rebirthed creativity in me through her,” Fannin said.

The proud mom recounted how Olajubutu excelled in school. This led to the first iteration of Sassie, when the pair created “Sassie says, ‘Learn Your Shapes’,” as a supplemental lesson. A reading of the book was posted to the SassieSays YouTube channel.

The young Mustang read the book aloud at the signing. She told the stories of Sassie, how the bunny met historical figures like Bessie Coleman to former president Barack Obama. After the reading, classes got pictures with Sassie and the authors and signed books for those in attendance.

“[The book] is very inspiring, and it’s very informational, especially if you want to know about the history, it is a great book,” Olahubutu said.