Breaking the Chain: A 14 Year-Old Promotes Worldwide Literacy

Most teenagers are worried about the Prom, getting into college, and family relations. Riley Carney is unique, in that her main concern is promoting worldwide literacy. At the age of 14, she founded her non-profit organization, Breaking the Chain, hoping to improve the lives of others. She was kind enough to take time out of her highly busy schedule to tell us more about her organization, and her budding career as a writer of young adult fiction.

Please tell us about yourself.

I am sixteen years old and I live in Denver, Colorado. I'm a junior in high school. My predominant hobby is writing, of course, and I write all the time. My computer is permanently attached to me! I sneak in a page here and there throughout the day, and I usually write for a couple of hours during the afternoons. I also love to read and I read a lot! I run almost every day and do yoga on the other days, and I usually spend a half an hour every day playing basketball in the driveway just for fun. I also spend a lot of time running my non-profit. It is really important to me to be able to provide as many children with the opportunity to have an education as I can. I also love movies since, of course, it's just another way to weave a story, and I'm all about stories!

What is Breaking the Chain?

Breaking the Chain is my nonprofit for literacy which I started when I was fourteen years old. The mission of Breaking the Chain is to eliminate the bonds of poverty and illiteracy for children and their communities through education and sustainable development, both domestically and internationally. Breaking the Chain has built three schools for villages in Africa, and built water purification systems, provided alternative income for the adults like goats and sewing machines, and basic medical supplies, for two of those villages. We also created a literacy center at a women's shelter, a room stocked with books and furniture and games. My program has bought countless books for Read Out and Read and the Heart of American Foundation. We have launched a program, Bookin'It, which puts books into schools with low literacy rates to get kids actively involved in their education and excited about reading.

What is the significance of the name of your organization?

Our mission statement is breaking the chains of illiteracy and poverty through education, so that's where I got the name Breaking the Chain...link by link.

What was the inspiration for Breaking the Chain?

I was inspired to promote literacy because reading, writing, and my education are very important to me and I learned that over 120 million children around the world are denied access to a basic education and that over 800 million adults cannot read or write, two-thirds of whom are women; I knew I had to do something to change those statistics. Without an education, children are particularly vulnerable to poverty and exploitation, and their futures are stolen from them. I consider education to be a basic human right. Only through education do children have the chance to break the cycle of poverty and make their lives better. Breaking the Chain will change the lives of thousands of children.

How does a fourteen year-old get such an organization up and running?

First, I chose a name and created a website, then, I presented to my school's student council and received permission to present a video that I had created to the entire school during assembly and also received permission to sell t-shirts at school. That was the way it began. I also started sending out letters to the community and held several other fundraisers. This past summer, after I had already raised enough money to build two of the three schools in Africa and I had created the children's literacy center in the women's shelter, I decided to make Breaking the Chain into an official tax-exempt nonprofit. Since I was only sixteen and too young to file the paperwork or officially run my organization, my brother, who is twenty, came onboard and filed with the IRS.

How hands-on are you? Do you personally visit these places?

I am extremely hands-on. I do all the fundraising, although at some of the schools where I've spoken around the country about my books and Breaking the Chain, kids are starting to want to help raise money, which is great! I have not been to Africa to see the schools that I've built, but I've seen pictures of the schools and the kids from those villages. I am completely hands-on with BTC's domestic programs. I bought everything, put the furniture together, and set up the children's literacy center at the women's shelter. For our new program Bookin'It, I buy all of the books for the classrooms and go to the classrooms myself to deliver the books. I have been speaking at some of the schools that have received books, to encourage the students to take ownership over their education. Meeting the kids is my favorite part of running BTC!

Please share one of your most memorable experiences.

I can't think of one single experience, but I have had a lot of amazing experiences when I've spoken at schools. I love meeting the kids. They really have been amazing; excited, enthusiastic, and often they want to know how they can help my nonprofit. I have also receiving so many incredibly wonderful letters from kids.

What makes Breaking the Chain unique from other similar organizations?

The most unique part of Breaking the Chain is that it was created and is run by a teenager. Because I speak to the many kids and they can see that I didn't let something unimportant like my age stand in the way of my goals, it can be inspiring for them. They begin to believe that they can do anything they dream of doing.

What kinds of programs are supported in the United States? How do you choose whom to help?

In the United States, I have chosen to support programs that are doing a good job of increasing literacy and are getting books directly into the hands of children, like Reach Out and Read and The Heart of America Foundation. Recently, after hearing about a young teacher who did not have any books in her classroom and who was desperately trying to get some, we decided to start Bookin'It. I love the hands-on aspect of this program and for donors it's very gratifying because they can adopt a classroom for $250-350 and actually know where their donation went.

How do you choose your international programs?

Thus far, all of our school building programs in Africa has been through Free the Children. They are a great organization run by two brothers and they have all of the systems in place to facilitate the building process. I decided that that was the most financially efficient way to have a direct impact on the villages in Kenya and Sierra Leone. Both countries have very low literacy rates and very high poverty rates, and I believe the schools that we have built there will make the lives of the people of those villages better for generations.

Where is there the most need?

Unfortunately, there is need both internationally and domestically, but the need in developing nations is greater because there are no schools and the countries are so poor that schools are not being built. It is an endless cycle of poverty and child labor. Also, a small amount of money can make a substantial difference in those countries.

Here in the United States, everyone has access to an education, but the cycle of poverty is perpetuated by the unbalanced access to books, good facilities and good teachers. Low literacy rates in impoverished areas are stuck in a cycle that is difficult to break because school funding often comes from the tax base in that school district. The kids that I meet really want to learn and to make their lives better, but it's really not an even playing field. Programs like Teach for America are helping that because they are putting talented, energetic young teachers into low literacy schools. I feel like Breaking the Chain can really make a difference for those kids, too, by putting books in those classrooms.

Many organizations are shifting focus to helping Haiti after that devastating earthquake. Do you have plans to do work down there?

I don't have plans to do any work in Haiti, but I hope that the enormous out-pouring of money and aid will allow Haiti to create a better situation for their citizens than existed before the earthquake.

How can people best support Breaking the Chain?

The best support that people can give BTC is to donate. Because of the economy and the disaster in Haiti, it has been much more difficult to get funds this year. As we get more funds in, there will also be an opportunity to volunteer for the Bookin'It program.

How can children get involved?

Children can get involved by starting an "adopt a classroom" program at their school. They can just raise the $250-350 to adopt a classroom or they can supervise a group of kids who are each adopting a classroom. If they'd like to supervise a group, they can contact us and we'll coach them through the process.

Where can people go for more information about Breaking the Chain?

The Breaking the Chain website is: www.linkbylink.org and all of the contact information, etc. is on the website.

You are also an author of books for teens. How does a sixteen year-old get published?

A teen author faces the same obstacles to publication that any other author does, but amplified because of their short and/or insignificant bio. Often, independent publishers are more willing to look and young authors. I would say the main way that a teen gets published is too make sure that your work is the best that it can be before you start submitting it, be persistent, and don't get discouraged. Many, many adult authors, even the ones who are now successful, have been rejected.

More and more children (under age 18) are being published. Is this a new trend in literature? How is going to change the face of reading and publishing?

My experience has been that there are still very few children under the age of 18 who are published. We tend to hear about them because it is still such an anomaly. I think that that number will eventually grow, but I don't know if it will be a trend. There are still a lot of obstacles for teen writers. I do think that teen writers offer something special to the MG/YA book world, though, and that is the ability to relate to the reader and for the reader to hear themselves in the writing. However, because so many adults now read YA fiction that may not necessarily be the advantage that it once was.

Please tell us about your series.

I actually have two series. The first series, The Reign of the Elements, is an MG fantasy series and the first book, The Fire Stone was released in October. The second book, The Water Stone, will be released in June. I have written all five books; the other three books are called, The Wind Stone, The Immortality Scroll and The Final Alliance.

The Fire Stone is the story of an ordinary boy, named Matt, who's life becomes extraordinary after he meets a wizard, two teenage elves and a magical creature called an alorath and they set out on a quest to find the Stones of the Elements before they fall into the hands of an evil elf who wants to use the stones to control the world.

I have also written the first book and I'm just finishing the second book of a YA urban fantasy trilogy.

A portion of the proceeds from my books sales go to Breaking the Chain.

Do you have any other ideas in the works?

I always have other ideas in the works!

Would you ever consider writing picture books for children?

I've never thought about it, but I won't rule out anything!

Do you plan to focus on writing throughout adulthood, or are you planning on other ventures, as well?

Writing is such an important part of who I am that I doubt I will ever stop, however, I know from what I'm doing right now, going to school, running my nonprofit, and writing, that I'll have time to do more than just write as I get older. I'm just not sure what that will be, although I'm sure I will continue my work with literacy.

Are you strictly a fiction writer, or would you consider doing other types of writing?

Up to this point, I've only been a fiction writer because I've been so young that I haven't felt that I was enough of an expert on anything to write nonfiction, however, that could change as time goes on. As I said, I'm not going to rule out any options, at this point!

What advice do you have for other young, aspiring writers?

My advice would be to work hard to make your writing the best it can be, to be persistent, and to write because you love to write, not because you want to be published because that will show in the quality of your writing.

Where can readers find out more about your writing?

My website is www.rileycarney.com, my blog is www.rileycarney.blogspot.com, and of, course my books are on Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, local independent bookstores, some libraries, and there are signed copies at www.indiependentbooks.com.

How can fans contact you?

They can email me at contact@rileycarney.com. I answer all of my emails.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Every day I'm reminded of how many good people there are in the world who really do want to help others and I just want to say to them that each of us can make a difference if we try. We really can make the world a better place.

Thank you so much for all of your time and all that you do!

Thank you so much for having me!