How two Phenix City sisters, ages 10 and 8, published their first book

Two sisters from Phenix City collaborated to release their debut book.

G is for Gymnasts, written by two Sherwood Elementary School students, the Murrell sisters — Morgan, 10, and Cydney, 8 — was released May 30. Their mom Christie Black-Murrell, an author and public speaker, guided them through the process of coordinating with their illustrator, writing and self-publishing.

The book started as a project to allow Cydney and Morgan to have a creative outlet. Christie said she felt that it was the time to share her love and passion for writing with her kids.

“They watch me all the time writing and coming up with ideas,” Christie told the Ledger-Enquirer. “And I felt like ‘Why not try?’ Why not make it something that can be a whole team unit — something we could do together? It became exactly that.”

G is for Gymnasts is a sight-word book, meaning it contains words you can recognize without sounding them out. The book aims to help kids recognize common words beginning with the letter G. They started with G as an ode to their love of gymnastics.

The authors told the Ledger-Enquirer they faced plenty of challenges while writing their book, calling the process “exhausting” but “exciting.”

“When you think of something, you have an image in your head, and sometimes the illustrator may not have the same image in their head, so it may look different.” Morgan said. “Then you get frustrated because it didn’t come out the way you wanted it to come out.”

Cydney and Morgan agreed that their mom’s support made the journey less stressful. Putting the book together felt normal, since they have helped their mom put together her previous children’s book bundles.

“When she writes her books, we would help her a bit,” Morgan said. “And when she made her book bundles, we would help because she writes children’s books too, and we are children, so we help with that. But now she got to help us from her experience.”

“We got to boss her around sometimes,” Cydney added. “And she supported us a lot.”

Morgan and Cydney hope their book can be an inspiration to other kids who want to write. They suggested the following advice:

“Trust your gut because your gut is usually right,” Morgan said. “If you still need help, go to your parents.”

The Murrells are scheduled to do readings, signings and vending events all summer long. The authors are starting with the Midland Commons market book vending event June 7.

“The summertime is the best time for them to really get out to sell their book,” Christie said.

This is the first in a series of alphabet books from the young author duo. Other installations, like J is for Joy, D is for Dad and C is for Cydney, are planned for the following years.

G is for Gymnasts is available online at Amazon and Christie Black-Murrell’s website, cblackexpressions.com.

This story was originally published June 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM.