Young Author Holds Book Signing

ONEONTA—Edyn Iteafa Ebikoboere Aiyemo, a 12-year-old student at Oneonta Middle School and the author of the children’s book “The Tale of the World with Four Colors,” held a book signing at the Oneonta Starbucks on Thursday, August 3. The event was sponsored by Starbucks in collaboration with A.T. Socio-Judicial Consulting.

Aiyemo wrote the book at age 6, encouraged by her mother, Ari Niki-Tobi. It follows a woman who finds herself an outsider in a world defined by color preference and who learns to forgive after attempting to take vengeance.

“It was really nice to meet everyone,” Edyn said.

The signing was attended by many local notables, including Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek and Otsego County Board of Representatives Chair David Bliss. Edyn’s former fourth-grade teacher at Greater Plains Elementary School and her uncle, an appellate judge in Nigeria, also attended.

“This is a world of redemption and heroism, but also of reassessment and recalibration,” Drnek said in a release about the signing event. “Seen through the lens of a first grader, it’s the sweet story of lives lived in colorful harmony, protected by the least likely. Surely, there’s a lesson in there.”