Teen turns lockdown into a young adult novel

For Skokie teen Zamira Elias, 2020 was a year of challenging transition. Her family moved from Indiana at a time when the COVID lockdowns were amping up. Elias, who was in sixth grade at the time, channeled her energy into Remix, a young adult novel.

“I put my emotions into the characters that I created,” said Elias, now 14, who attends Ida Crown Jewish Academy. “I started writing and it just kind of took off after that It kept going and I went along with the plot. It just sort of came out of me, like it was writing itself.”

Remix tells the story of Samantha Binsher, a human girl without powers. However, when she’s woken up from a dream, she transforms into Rea Micks, a girl who was leading a rebellion against Quinst Lowren. Micks must quickly relearn her old life so she can save the capital of Nhile and the people in it.

“It’s basically about a girl who gets her memories erased by an evil tyrant,” Elias explained. “She has to relearn everything that she once knew in order to save what she used to care about and everything she used to know.

“At the time, I was trying to figure myself out because I was jumping into this new place with new people,” the young author continued. “I was battling with the idea of trying to become a new person entirely. Throughout the book, the main character is also battling with herself. She asks herself, ‘Who am I? And in this world, what place do I take? What am I supposed to do? Should I step up, or should I wait for somebody else to do something? It reflects on what I was going through and what I was thinking about my own identity.”

Elias hopes to make Remix part of a trilogy. In fact, she has already completed the second book and is working on the third of the series. As a writer, she has drawn inspiration from her favorite fantasy book series, Harry Potter and Keeper of the Lost Citie s.

She advises young aspiring authors not to be afraid to “sit down and write that first sentence.” “If you like how that sentence looks, then keep going. Write another one and another one until you have a page,” Elias said. “Then write another page. And if it turns into something incredible, that’s amazing. My dad used to say, ‘Shoot for the stars, but if you land on the moon, that’s okay,” she added. “I thought of this advice when I was writing.”

“This has been an incredible opportunity for her,” said Elias’s mother, Alana Elias. “It was really educational for her to go through the process of publishing a book and see the many different pieces that go into it. It was amazing to give her wings with this.”

Remix was published by Fulton Books and is available on Amazon.