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Brianda Martinez sat with her two first-grade reading buddies on both sides of her during an assembly Thursday morning at Manatee Middle School.

The 13-year-old had spent the past year hanging out with Arely Chavez and Ivonne Munoz. She wanted to learn about their friendship, and what they had gone through in their short life. It had been a long few months, but Thursday, Brianda, along with the rest of the students in her eighth-grade class, were able to see the fruits of their labor.

Thursday marked the third annual authors’ reception at Manatee Middle School. About 300 students attended, and they all had one thing in common: They were all authors.

The program gives students a chance to write books about whatever they chose, according to Sharlene Burkett, a reading instructor and program coordinator at Manatee Middle. Students in all of the school’s language arts classes were able to publish a 16-page book that consisted of eight pages of text and eight pages of illustrations.

“(These students) are excited about writing,” she said. “This builds enthusiasm for writing and for reading.”

Yet while most students wrote poems and stories about themselves, one eighth-grade class teamed up with a Manatee Elementary class to tell the stories of smaller students.

Steve Onorati, a language arts teacher at Manatee Middle, said he always likes to get his eighth-grade students involved with an elementary class. This year he approached Sonjia Clodfelder, a first-grade teacher at Manatee Elementary, about pairing up with her classroom to become reading buddies.

“I think (my students) learn a lot about responsibility,” Onorati said. “It’s like being someone’s big brother or big sister, they know they better be there for them.”

First-grade students, like Arely and Ivonne, told stories to their buddies, who then made books out of them. The first-grade students attended the reception and got their own copy of the book.

“(My students) were really excited to get their books,” Clodfelder said. “I didn’t tell them about it for a few days, so they were really excited when I finally told them when they were getting them.”

But the first-grade students weren’t the only ones excited, Onorati said his students look forward to spending time with their buddies.

Brianda said she’s already looking forward to the next time she gets to visit Arely and Ivonne. It’s during that visit, she said, she’ll get to read them the final product.

“It was a good experience to work with them,” Brianda said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Having fun is one of the most important parts of becoming a writer, said Eric Spencer, author of Get Behind the Covers: Leave a Legacy by Writing a Book and keynote speaker during Thursday’s event.

“Writing is a great creative outlet,” Spencer said. “I can’t sculpt or throw pottery, but I know that all of us can write, (and) writing is one creative outlet that has no startup time.”

Spencer said students should carry notebooks and pens with them at all times, write whenever they can and, most importantly, just have fun.

“You have to take life less seriously,” he said with a smile.