NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — 8-year-old Jaxon Lee Styles from Newnan, Georgia is already a published author after writing a book about his favorite football player, Julio Jones.
The book titled "If I Could Meet my Favorite Football Player" was part of a program for "Leap for Literacy" in Atlanta.
The non-profit works with at-risk and low-income students, making books more accessible to children while promoting the importance of reading.
Styles drove with his family from Georgia to Tennessee to attend the Titans game Sunday afternoon.
During the game, he was surprised with a gift from his role model, Julio Jones! Jones gifted Styles with an autographed helmet. Jones also autographed a copy of the third grader's book.
"It feels like a dream right now that we are in Nashville and he signed it," Styles said.
The founder of "Leap for Literacy," Stan Tucker, says its rewarding to see the reactions of these kids as they become published authors.
"This one kid here wrote a book about his giant puppy and his dog was there and they were excited," Tucker said, "it's so heartwarming to see the support people are giving these young authors and have Julio Jones sign the gear and tell him he loved it was my whole dream for Jaxon."
While at the game, Styles sold 14 copies of his book! Another cool thing about the program is each young author gets to keep the royalties from their sales.
To purchase a copy of Styles' book online, go on his website www.jaxonleestyles.com.
Tucker has a upcoming show about literacy that will also have Styles as one of their guests. Their episode of "The Very Airy Library" will air January 2nd. You can watch it on YouTube.
