Monday, January 5, 2009 10:17 PM CST
Bierman siblings publish book for children; proceeds from sales to help those with cancer
BY DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Mercedes Bierman has no problem being in the spotlight, and she now wants to bring her cause of fighting childhood cancer to the forefront.
Mercedes, 10, and her brother, Dillon, 14, both of Mattoon, recently published a children’s mystery book, “The Deep Dark Forest of Doom.”
Their parents are Paul and Lorrie Bierman of Mattoon. Mercedes authored the book, while she and her brother co-illustrated it.
All profits from the sales of the $15 paperback book will go to help pre-selected families whose children have been fighting cancer. Depending on sales, more families also may share in the proceeds.
The book can be obtained by contacting the family by e-mail at plbierman@yahoo.com; online at www.helpmercedeshelp.org; or by ordering it at local bookstores. The book was published by Lulu.com.
While the book isn’t about cancer, it is geared for children up to age 10. The colorful, 32-page-book is about a group of children who, while on summer vacation from school, decide to investigate a scary sound in the forest.
The story, written in first-person, focuses on Mercedes and her brother, Dillon, who are on summer break from school. After complaining about being bored, their mother insists they go outside to play. Soon they meet up with others in the neighborhood, and the woods nearby beckon the children to investigate a strange sound.
Mercedes wrote the book as part of a school assignment and entered it for the Young Authors Challenge, where it was selected as a district winner and was represented in the state competition.
Mercedes has been involved in pageants since she was an infant, and this past summer was awarded the 2008 International Little Miss Sunburst Queen.
She now hopes her notoriety will help put the spotlight on her cause to stamp out childhood cancer, said her father, Paul Bierman.
She also intends to sell her book at pageants in Illinois, and plans to schedule a book tour.
“I chose cancer as my official cause because in 2007, approximately 10,400 children under the age of 15 were diagnosed with childhood cancer. About 1,545 of these children will die. Cancer is the leading cause of death of children under the age of 14,” Mercedes said.
The Biermans already have pre-selected two families to receive the proceeds of the book sales.
The money will go to the families of Gunner Gillespie, who has since lost his fight to a rare form of brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma; and Landon Stuckey, who is being treated for leukemia.
Mercedes and Dillon not only want to help families, but are hopeful a cure for childhood cancer can be found.
“I want to make a difference,” Mercedes said. “I want to become an actress, model, and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. I want to live a full life, and to live a full life is to make a difference in the life of another.”
Dillon said he enjoys art and has been involved in the Mattoon Middle School Art Club. An art piece he created also was sent to the Tarble Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University.
“I helped Mercedes illustrate her book because many of the pictures were very detailed and challenging. And I wanted to be a part of making a difference in the fight against childhood cancer,” he said.
Dillon said he wants to be a chiropractor, expand his artistic abilities and fulfill his passion to fish professionally.
Both said they hope to write and publish other books.
“We want our children to know that everyone can make a difference, no matter how young or old,” Lorrie Bierman said.
She added that sales so far have been good, with customers from many states and some internationally.
Mercedes is a fourth-grader at Williams Elementary School. Dillon is an eighth-grader at Mattoon Middle School.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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