Nonprofit gives young Georgia author battling sickle cell disease her own book signing

Amiaya Brown realized she wanted to become an author when she started coming up with short stories while writing her book reports.

"I just started writing it. And I would be like, 'Mom, look, read it. I made 10 pages today.' And she would just be like, 'Oh, OK, cool.' And she would be like, giving me pointers of what she thought was good and thought I should edit."

That led her to write her first book, "The Unassuming Hero." It follows a teenage girl on a mission to save her best friend after she is abducted at a theme park. Brown, who battles sickle cell, says writing is her way of putting her thoughts out into the world.

Then Yes Day discovered her work. The nonprofit creates personalized events to bring children joy, hope, and connection during some of life's hardest moments. For Brown, they threw a book signing in her honor in Dunwoody.

"It's like, exciting, overwhelming. When I first came out, I was like--because everybody was just standing right by the bookstore," Brown said.

Brown's mother, Ashley, says it's been difficult watching her daughter fight sickle cell.

"Earlier in her life, she wasn't hospitalized often. But the last two years, Amiaya was in the hospital literally every month for sickle cell pain. So, what that meant is sometimes she was unable to walk," Ashley Brown said. "We ended up in rehab multiple times. She had some issues with the medications she had where if I--if a feather touched her, it would burn. So, she's been through a lot."

She says that's what makes Yes Day's event for her and all the people who showed up even more special.

"We don't live in Dunwoody, right? But to see how a community can come together as a collective for a child they've never met, for a family they've never met, but because they just felt something or are just altruistic people is beautiful," she said.

The Brown family says Amiaya's sickle cell may make basic activities like going to the park and into stores riskier. But her writing keeps her spirits up. She's currently on her third manuscript with aspirations of writing a memoir, going to Spelman College, and becoming a heart surgeon someday.

"You can do anything that you put your mind to," she said. "There is no 'I'm too young, or I'm too old.' Or 'That's too big of an idea.' Or 'That's crazy,' because you literally never know what eyes will get on your story. So yeah. I think that you should just go for it."

Brown is slated to undergo a bone marrow transplant for her condition next month. Her 4-year-old brother, Malcolm, will be her donor.