Bowmanville girl too young to get a job, writes book to pay for iPhone

A Bowmanville girl who wanted to buy an iPhone — but was too young to get a job to pay for it — wrote a book about the ordeal in order to make some money to pay for her smartphone.

“I ended up just deciding to write a book because that was the only way I could find the money,” says Alexa Allison, who was 11 years when she began the process of becoming an author in 2016.

The book is called You’re Too Young! and tells the story of Rose, who wants to buy a phone but is too young to get a job.

Alexa says she knew “a phone is a want, not a necessity,” so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Once she had written the book, her aunt gave her some illustrations for it as a Christmas present. Her father agreed to lend her the money to finance the publication.

In the end, it was a two-year process for Alexa to write the book, pay back her dad and buy an iPhone.

“It was definitely worth it,” she says.

But her entrepreneurial spirit didn’t stop there. Alexa struck a deal with her school principal that saw her donate $1 to the school for every book she sold. In return, the school helped her advertise the book to her fellow students.

Alexa hopes the book will help other children learn about financial literacy and responsibility, and inspire some hope.

“If you can dream it, you can do it, because Rose really wanted a phone, and in the end she got it.”