'It's a ministry'

Fayette teen launches her second book

By Judy Kilgore
jkilgore@TheCitizenNews.com

To visit with Crystalline Joi Prothro and her family in their fashionable north Fayette County home is to visit with what appears at first glance to be a typical American family of African descent.

Chrissy, as she prefers to be called, is an attractive teen with a shy smile and a moppet of dark hair cascading from the top of her head. She is an A-B student, a sophomore at Sandy Creek High School, sings in the school chorus, and is a member of the school's STEP team. Her favorite subject is math and she played saxophone in the school band.

This weekend, she is competing in the Miss Sandy Creek pageant at school. A very typical "today's teen."

But what makes Chrissy not so typical is the fact that she has just published her second book at the tender age of 15 a book she calls "a ministry."

Her first book, published in 1998, was entitled "I'm a Kid But I'm Not Kiddin' I Love the Lord." The book dealt with helping youths to understand their parents, spirituality and responsibility all written from a 13-year-old's point of view.

The second book, "Happy On A Virgin's Island," revolves around a more mature theme: teenage sexuality, virtue, responsibility, forgiveness and healing, this time from a 15-year-old's point of view.

Written in a frank and open style, the second book relates experiences of teens who have struggled through the difficult years of pimples, proms and peer pressure about sex. Some emerged victorious, some did not. All stories are true but names have been changed. Contributions to the book also were submitted by Chrissy's family, including her grandmother.

To compile most of the material for her second book, Chrissy gathered together a group of her young friends and relatives one Saturday and conducted a no-holds-barred "forum" on teenage sexuality and other topics involving today's youth. Stories emerged from that forum that tell of the struggles most teens go through in their lives.

"The result is a book that is universal in its appeal," says Chrissy's father, the Rev. James Prothro, "and emphasizes a firm stance on virginity. It also talks about secondary virginity. Violation does not constitute loss of virginity ... praise God!"

Prothro is not the only "minister" in this family, one quickly learns. Ministry is what this family is all about. Chrissy's mother, Donna, an oncology nurse at DeKalb Medical Center, ministers to cancer patients daily, and Chrissy calls her writings for and about teens, her "ministry."

Prothro also has authored six books and operates Robot Publishing, the publisher of Chrissy's books.

Their daughter's talent for writing was discovered by James and Donna Prothro when she was just a child, as they came across some of her stories and poetry. The depth and clarity of what she had to say amazed them, they said, and they realized it had to be developed. With James as her mentor and guider, Chrissy sat for hours in her father's office, "drilling," developing material for her first book.

Together they put together her ideas and the book evolved. The first book took about three months to complete, while the second took nearly six months.

"I took my journal with me everywhere," Chrissy says. "I gave up a whole summer to do that first book."

The family has done most of the publishing and marketing of the books, with the help of Choice Books, a distributor that helped them open up new markets. "I just gathered a long list of national book distributors," Prothro says, "and started making phone calls. Choice has really helped us distribute the book."

Editing, layout and publicity are the domains of Chrissy's older sister, Rosalynn Curry.

Although the books have not yet made a profit, Prothro emphasizes, "That's not the purpose. We never wrote the books for profit. We wrote them for ministry."

Sales have now taken off for the first book and Chrissy has several book signings scheduled for the second. Curry smiles as she relates a book signing story: "One book seller told us not to be disappointed if we didn't sell many books at a signing. He said if we sold ten books it was considered successful. Chrissy usually sells at least 100 books. For her, ten is a bad day."

Chrissy is scheduled for a book signing at Berean Christian Books on Cleveland Avenue in Atlanta Feb. 24. Other signings will be at Publix on Flat Shoals Road in Decatur and Publix on Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta near I-285. For times and dates, phone Robot Publishing at 770-460-7092.

Chrissy's books can be purchased at Our Heritage Books at Shannon Mall in Union City, B. Dalton Books at South DeKalb Mall, Medu Books at Greenbriar Mall, or directly from Robot Publishing. "I'm A Kid But I'm Not Kidding" sells for $9.95 and "Happy On a Virgin's Island" sells for $10.95.

Is there a third book in the works? Yes, says Curry. "We're inviting young authors age 18 and under to submit their stories and poetry for a third book," she says. "We will take the first 90-100 submissions for consideration."

For information on making a contribution, phone Robot Publishing at 770-460-7092.