My mom, Christine Tortorella, and I both love writing, children and hockey. We wrote “Stubby and Rusty” together. — Brittany Tortorella

It all started when I was going to school to be a teacher! I was taking a class at Dowling College in Long Island called Early Childhood Physical and Art Education. I was assigned a project to write an educational children’s book, and my mom and I started brainstorming.

We thought it would be fun to write a story from an animal’s perspective and educate readers on how they can help the environment. This particular story is from the perspective of Patty the pelican. I grew up in Florida, where there is a variety of wild life on land and in the beautiful ocean. My mom and I feel it is important for children to understand what they can do to preserve and protect nature.

We had wonderful time writing the story together, and I ended up getting an A+ in the class and on the rough draft of the book. Now we are trying to publish the story and put together the pieces of the book! Keep checking the website because every week you may see an update on what we are working on to get this book published.

— Brittany