CLASS OF 2010

THE WRITE STUFF

Instead of perfecting his tan in hometown Miami, Drew Lerman '10 spent his freshman- year spring break traveling to promote his newly published novel for young adults, MagicCity (Scholastic Inc.), which is about a Miami high school boy who suffers from post-trau- matic stress disorder after a hurricane. It's a story he hopes reflects the real-life emotions of a high school boy figuring out girls and relationships.

He's long had a creative bent. In fifth grade Lerman won a best animation award in the Miami Children's Film Festival for a claymation movie about a cow running for president. "It's ridiculous how little my humor has evolved," he says.

He began writing Magic City at 16. His first draft won the Scholastic Garden Writing Awards contest, which allowed him to shape his manuscript into a publishable book. He says the editing process was "nerve-wracking." His editor guided the way, but that doesn't help with Lerman's primary other concern: His relatives' reaction to the novel. "It talks pretty openly about sex and drinking," he says. "My aunts and uncles are going to be like, 'Oh, my nephew's a crazy delinquent.'"

Lerman is already shopping around a recently completed second novel and he planned to write a third this summer. He also draws a comic strip for TheDartmouth. He has yet to declare a major.