In Breea Wallace?s world, everyone would ride on mythical water dragons.
“I don?t like airplanes or trains, and I especially don?t like boats,” the 10-year-old said. “They?re all prone to crashing.”
Breea, ofArmistead Gardens in Baltimore City, is writing the seventh chapter in her water dragons story, one of countless pieces she has been writing since age 3.
The aspiring writer is a student at Armistead Gardens Elementary School and studying modern fantasy at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth summer program for gifted and talented students.
She recently tested at an advanced level in math and verbal on the fourth grade Maryland Student Assessment and was recruited for the three-week camp held at Garrison Forest School.
“Before she could write, she would tell us the stories, and we had to write them down,” said her mother Bree Wallace.
Breea chose the modern fantasy class, taught by Debbie Ehler, because it combined writing, science and acting.
An avid reader, Breea was reading at a middle-school level by kindergarten and now can finish a book in one day, said her grandmother, Christine Wallace.
Breea has read all 13 books in the “Warriors” fantasy series about wild cats living in a forest.
“I?m waiting for No. 14,” she said.
The novels are an inspiration for her own stories, which she is looking into publishing.
When she was just a toddler, Breea?s mother used vocabulary flash cards to entertain her, and a ride in the car became a giant game for Breea, who would call out words she recognized on billboards and signs.
“I knew she was bright the day she was born just from the way she looked all around,” her mother said.
