Winning writing contest leads to book signing for Merrimack fifth-grader

MERRIMACK – Merrimack fifth-grader Anna Stover recently penned her first book, “Casey and Bella Face Their First Bully,” which turned out to be the winning entry among 1,400 manuscripts submitted to a nationwide writing contest sponsored by the Casey and Bella Book Series. The series is by New Jersey author Jane Lovascio. The book that won Anna, 10, the grand prize of $500 has been published and is available to the public. Anna will autograph the first editions at a book signing from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 235 Daniel Webster Highway, Nashua. The Casey and Bella series, published by Big Tent Castle Bridge Books, is based on two real canines: Casey, a Jack Russell terrier, and Bella, a teacup Yorkie. The pets are the pride of Lovascio, who developed the idea for the contest as a fun way to foster creativity among youngsters in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Lovascio found in her various story-telling visits to schools that children needed no prompting in sharing with her their own Casey and Bella story plots, complete with twists and turns and the introduction of sinister and benign characters.