By Paris Zhang ’27

Showcased in Mercersburg Academy’s library is The Memory Garden, a self-published children’s book by Ellie Yang ’27. A student interested in both science and art, Yang uses the metaphor of wilted flowers in a garden to explain Alzheimer’s disease to young readers.

“My inspiration was my grandmother, who passed away due to Alzheimer’s,” Yang said. “As a child, I didn’t get to know what happened to her. I didn’t know what Alzheimer’s disease was, so I thought that being able to create a science children’s book would be a good way to give back to my community and also commemorate my grandmother.”

Yang said her interest in creating a picture book was also influenced by other authors.

“I was inspired by this author named Jason Chin, and he wrote a science book called Hurricane,” Yang said. “He kind of stitched science and art together to help teach science to kids, and his illustrations really inspired me to keep going.”

Yang emphasized the importance of making scientific knowledge accessible to younger audiences.

“Science should be shared with everyone of all ages, regardless of their education,” she said. “I want to expand beyond that barrier and allow children to understand critical health issues just as adults would.”

Julie Bell, assistant librarian at Mercersburg, said children’s books can play an important role in education and community engagement.

“Sometimes classes have to interpret a picture book,” Bell said. “We also had a program where students would go and read to kids at the elementary school and at the First United Methodist Church preschool. It’s not academic, but it’s a good service because everybody lives here.”

Yang said careful planning was required to make the book accessible to children. The book was fully illustrated and designed digitally.

“It took a lot of thinking and finding good analogies,” Yang said. “I had different ideas, like a factory or a kingdom, and ultimately I thought a garden was the most fun and best for a children’s book.”

Writing, illustrating, and publishing the book presented challenges, particularly as Yang transitioned to digital art.

“I was very much a studio art person,” she said. “I thought digital art was the best way to approach this, so I spent a lot of time drafting different sketches. Each illustration probably took one or two hours.”

Yang said completing and distributing the book marked a significant milestone.

“My biggest milestone was publishing it,” she said. “I was also able to donate books in China and get it translated.”

Yang said conversations with Mercersburg faculty encouraged her to continue writing and publishing.

“I was able to talk to English teachers while sitting at a table with Mr. [Todd] McGuire and Ms. [Michele] Poacelli,” she said. “It inspired me to keep expanding my publishing. I have a second book published called The Digestive Factory, and I’m planning to create a third one before I graduate.”

Bell said Yang’s work also serves as an example for other students.

“It shows other students what is possible,” Bell said. “She did this at a young age, and that’s meaningful to see.”

Photo by Alice Morgan '26