THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406170242
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: SUFFOLK
``The young mother, shivering with cold, held the baby to her breast, trying to shelter it from the icy winter cold.''
\ THE STORY takes place during the Russian Revolution. The author is 14-year-old Rachel Ford.
``I read about Anastasia and that got me into it,'' Rachel said. ``I was totally enthralled - fascinated.''
{REST} Rachel wrote a report on Anastasia and learned a lot about the Russian Revolution from reading about it.
Then she launched into the book, which she is writing in longhand, in a style best described as offbeat.
Rachel does not go for continuity, switching instead from one section of the book to another, then back again.
It works for her. The young author's talent for description is far beyond her years.
An example is this paragraph about the shack near St. Petersburg where her book's heroine, Olivia, grew up:
`` . . . an older woman trying to keep a smoldering fire hot to warm the cold bodies within. A tall, slender man, young but with a rugged, work-worn face, tries to scrounge up blankets.''
Rachel, her 17-year-old brother, Nathan, and 6-year-old sister, Catharine, are home-schooled.
``I like it,'' Rachel said. ``I get to concentrate more, and I don't have to worry about peer pressure.''
Rachel, the daughter of Harold and Barbara Ford of Suffolk, is a member of Hearts on Fire, a Christian singing group, and the King's Kids, a Christian missionary group.
She is active with The Hurrah Players of Hampton Roads and the Suffolk Fine Arts Center, where she studies acting, singing, dancing and fencing.
One of Rachel's goals is to complete her as yet untitled book, which she describes as historical fiction and assures will be lengthy.
``It starts when Olivia is 4 years old, but gets really interesting when she turns 12,'' Rachel said.
That is when riots occur in St. Petersburg, where the family lives and struggles. The fictional child loses her parents during the rioting and is adopted by a family of strangers.
Rachel said she is not sure where the story is heading, but, she said, ``I have an idea. The family that adopts her has a boy her age.''
Romance and personal tragedy, prevalent also in the poems Rachel writes, are only a part of her book.
``I'm including a lot of information on the revolution,'' she said. ``I'm doing lots of research on it.''
One reason Rachel can concentrate so well is the lack of distraction.
The family television set was unplugged and taken away two years ago.
``I'm a heavy reader,'' Rachel said. ``Especially history.''
by CNB