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By Katrina Margolis
Hometown Weekly
In seventh grade, most students’ goals include getting good grades, making it through the year without any embarrassing interactions, and getting all your work done fast enough to hang out with your friends. Carina Christo, however, was not an average seventh grader. Today, she is not your average ninth grader.
What makes Carina so unique?
Last Sunday, Carina’s family held a party for her at the Zullo Gallery to celebrate the publication of her first book. An extraordinarily joyful and lavish event, the gallery was packed with Carina’s school friends, friends of the family, and local Medfielders who had heard about the incredible feat. Titled “Loud Silence,” the book is about “a girl who enters a writing contest to help her brother go to college.”
A soft-spoken and sweet girl, Carina comes across as sincerely humble, despite the grand achievement of her book. “I started writing it in seventh grade and I didn’t really know it was going to be published or anything until eighth grade. I had my sister read it and she really liked it, and so that gave me a lot of confidence,” she said. The book was purely a passion project, written of her own accord and imagination.
Also available on Amazon and in a variety of book stores, Carina sold her books at the event, signing them for anyone who asked. Part of the proceeds of the book are being donated to 826. “They’re an organization in Boston that helps kids to learn how to write better, like in Dorchester and other places, where they might not have the resources,” she said. Founded in 2007, they have since helped 16,000 youth in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Jamaica Plain.
Gabriella, Carina’s sister, was also in attendance, giving a moving speech before her family cut a cake decorated with the cover of Carina’s book. “She put so much time and effort into this book while still finding time to be the best sister,” Gabriella said. “Ever since we were little, she has had a passion for writing. Even when I was in preschool, she would help me read and write after her kindergarten class every day.”
She also shared Carina’s love of journals and books and the magnetic draw they have on her: “One time, we had to have the store call her over the intercom, only to realize she had wandered into the back of the store reading. They were quite surprised when we walked out with a 13-year-old, however.”
Carina shared one of the most important aspects of her writing, which is that through it, she found a voice. “Writing is something really good for someone like me who is quiet and I found a voice through writing. I think that this is for other people a really nice thing to see.” As of right now, Carina has begun a few projects but isn’t sure if she’ll follow through.
“I’m very thankful for all of the teachers that have helped me write,” she concluded.
