Ashley Dimango and the Critic

She grinned, looking down at the papers in front of her. Three hundred and fifty-two pages total, not counting the title pages, dedication, and author's note.

She was known as Ashley Dimango, a fifteen year old female author. At least, that's what her mother called her. Even though she wasn't a "well known author". In fact, the only people who knew about the book where her family and close friends.

The book was called The Great London Mystery. It took place in London, England, where Ashley had gone for a trip over the summer. She had enjoyed it so much, that she decided to write a mystery about a jewelry theft. The police couldn't figure out who had done it, and neither could any other governmental officials. That was when Donny Beastman came in.

Donny Beastman was a five foot four twenty five year old man with slicked back dark brown hair and greenish-blue eyes, he had chin whiskers and his eyes always had a bit of a mischievous look in them, he was in middle-class, and worked as a banker on Kings Road.

That was what Ashley had written, that was what it said. Nervously, Ashley read the letter from the publishing company. It said:

Dear Ms. Ashley Dimango,

Your story was not very accurate to the real world, and we have edited a few things, if you do not accept these edits, your book will not be published under your name. Please note that we do this for the happiness of our readers, and our readers do not like inaccurate books.

Sincerely, Andrew's Publishing

Ashley frowned at the letter in front of her. Our readers do not like inaccurate books?!

First of all; Ashley had put lots of heart and soul into that book and had even researched a whole bunch things about England to make sure that her story was accurate, and second of all; the letter was of the inaccurate, and she was pretty sure that if they stole her work and put it under her name(published or not), it was still considered plagiarism, and was therefore illegal.

So Ashley set to work, when she was finished, her letter replied:

Dear Andrew's Publishing,

My story was indeed accurate to the real world, I researched everything about England that needed to be known for this story to make sense. On top of that, you can't tell me whether or not to accept edits with a threat of publishing my book under another name, that is both rude and illegal, and I have full rights to sue for plagiarism. So think twice before sending that to anyone. And please, do not do it again.

-Ashley Diaz

She smiled at her letter, knowing that Andrew's Publishing would back off. She sent the book to another publishing company, who loved her book and didn't change a thing, except for a few misspellings that Ashley had missed.

The book was published right away, and received many likes and praises, Ashley was spammed with requests for more books, and she set to work... but that was when the critical review rolled in.

Ashley was halfway done with her second book, when a letter was put in her mail. She sent her little sister to go get it for her, while she jotted down endings.

Ashley's little sister was named Chestnut, and was actually a dog. Chestnut knew how to get the mail as she had been taught by Ashley's mother.

Chestnut appeared with a letter in her mouth and dropped it in Ashley's mail rack. Ashley looked up from her computer and opened the letter, she read it, and immediately felt weak in the knees. The note said that her book was worthless and the worst thing ever read. Ashley didn't want to write anymore... until she noticed something unusual.

The note wasn't written by hand like all the others, it was typed, and when Ashley scanned the paper for fingerprints, she also scanned the Andrew's Publishing and found the results were the same.

Andrew's Publishing was behind the critic letter. Ashley felt slightly angry, and told her mail company to never accept any letters that had the Andrew's Publishing symbol on it, and to just throw it away.

Ashley did actually get critical reviews from people who had actually read it and weren't just from Andrew's Publishing, but she learned to push past them, and that when someone's gonna hate something, that they can hate, and you shouldn't give a care.

What really matters, is what you think, not what anyone else thinks. As long as you think you did well, you succeed in life, and always help someone who needs it.

Author's Note(because apparently I didn't have enough words before):

We as humans have a natural instinct to judge. Judge on looks, judge on personality, or judge just because we're jealous.

This book is an example of judging. Andrew's Publishing is a made up company (and if there really is one, that was unintentional and is not meant to bring any negativity to it) who told Ashley Dimango that her book wasn't good enough and that they would publish her book under a different name with their publishes in it. That was an example of plagiarism, which is illegal, plagiarism(for those who do not know) is when you copy someone else's work without giving them the credit.

Another thing Andrew's Publishing did was a form of bullying. They told Ashley that she wasn't good enough, and when she asked them to stop, they continued doing it. Bullying is very rude, and kids are taught at a young age to not do it, as it brings the target down. Bullying doesn't get anyone anywhere good.

So the whole point of this story is to not bully and to not plagiarize. This book also teaches that what other people think about your work doesn't matter, as long as you think you did good.

Parents and teachers are encouraged to teach their children and students further the importance of not bullying or plagiarizing, and to praise the work of their friends and family and everyone. Constructive Criticism and Destructive Criticism are different, parents, please teach the difference to your children so that they will constructively criticize and not destructively.

Thank you,

-Sarah Rosenvall