One day in the backyard of her parents’ house, Nicole Izmaylov saw a group of bees attack a stray cat that was trying to catch a mouse.
The bees flew around the cat and stung it, and the mouse was able to run away to safety.
The witnessed scene inspired Nicole, who was just 12 at the time. She went on to write “Ronnie and BB,” a picture book that was recently nominated for the 46th annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards.
“When the book came out I never imagined it would do anything beyond just being a book that I could say I wrote,” Izmaylov, who turned 13 in January, said. “But it’s nominated for an award and I might win it. I didn’t expect all this to happen and I am satisfied with what has happened. But of course, I’m always striving for what’s better.”
“Ronnie and BB” tells the tale of the friendship between a mole, BB, and a bumblebee, Ronnie.
When the two friends are playing hide and seek, a cat attacks BB and it’s up to Ronnie to save his friend. The book is an acrostic poem, meaning it has an underlying message based on the first letter of each sentence.
“Anyone that wants to read a nice, cozy story about friends and maybe get a nice message, they might want to read this book,” Izmaylov said.
“Ronnie and BB” is nominated in the picture book category along with three other titles: “Where Did Bootsie Go?” by Billie Dixon, “Things I like 3-D” by Horrace Forrest and “If I Could Be a Zebra” by Zarle Williams. The winner will be announced on June 19 at the Kennesaw State University Center.
In addition to her nomination, Izmaylov also received some praise from New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Brian – who called Izmaylov “a writer to watch.”
“I would never ever have thought something so big could come from something so small,” Izmaylov said. “I am flattered and simply amazed that a big author like Cynthia Brian could go down and take a look at somebody like me’s work, and write a review with them and get involved with them.”
However, Nicole isn’t the only Izmaylov nominated for a Georgia Author of the Year Award.
Her older sister Michelle, a freshman at Emory, is nominated in the Mid Reader category for her novel “The Galactern Legacy: Galaxy Watch.”
Michelle’s first book, “The Pocket Watch,” was published when she was 13, and she was 15 when her second book, “Dream Saver” vaulted up to No. 5 on Barnes & Noble’s top 10 fantasy fiction books.
But for Michelle, it’s been a pleasure to see her sister find success at a young age too.
“She’s always done incredible poetry; that’s where she’s always had a lot of talent,” Michelle said. “But it’s incredible she’s taken this initiative to write her acrostic poem and get it published. It’s really amazing and I’m really proud of her.”
Nicole said Michelle played a huge role in wanting to write a book of her own.
“It was kind of like a sibling rivalry,” Nicole said. “I said, ‘Oh she can write a book? Well I can do it too.’”
Nicole is now working on a novel “about a girl who goes on an expedition to the jungle only to find dragons there.” Michelle added that both sisters are also working collectively on a project too.
At Emory, Michelle is pre-med and plans to attend medical school when her undergraduate degree is complete. Nicole still has a long time before deciding on career plans.
But she’s quite certain at just 13 years old that she’ll continue to write no matter what field she ventures into.
“Writing is such a big part of me that even if I become a janitor writing is always going to be a part of it,” Nicole said. “I’m always going to write a book, no matter how small or how large. I’m going to be working a double job if I don’t completely go over to writing.”
