OHIO — A 13-year old-old girl is being recognized for writing and drawing a booklet about bullying and mental health struggles.

What You Need To Know

  • Partin partnered with National Alliance on Mental Health of Lorain County

  • The 13-year-old experienced bullying in elementary and middle school

  • Partin’s Book will be at the Free little Libraries around Lorain County

Zaya Partin wrote "My Best Friend Gave Me Hope," which is all about bullying and mental health struggles — things she unfortunately experienced first-hand. 

"I was actually bullied for seven years in early middle school and elementary school," Partin said.

The Lorain teen wrote 30 pages that takes people inside the mind of someone struggling with bullying and suicidal thoughts. 

"I was really touched by it because it covered a lot of different things teens struggle with like bullying, feeling sad and not w-anting to be alive, so it hit very close to home," said Betsy Ramos, an outreach coordinator at the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Lorain County. "We went a head and used her book and her works to get it printed and what we added was we included in the book all the red flags for suicide awareness, and we included the phone numbers, crisis text line, crisis hotline. Then what we did was we distributed the books to all the little libraries around the county so the books in the little free library are free and accessible."

Lorain County is also putting Zaya’s booklet in their libraries

"I really want to help people. When I grow up like go into something, I like to help people. If I can help one person in the long run, I feel like it was all worth it," said Partin.