Bel Air High School’s very own Maya Cavolo is now a published author.
Cavolo is currently a junior who has had her work published her sophomore year in our school’s literary art magazine, Reverie. Her book titled Ignite Me was released on June 1, 2025. The book is a collection of Cavolo’s poetry from the last couple years of her writing journey. You can purchase a copy on Amazon or Kindle.
When Cavolo was asked about the initial motive for her wanting to publish a book, she talked about how ever since she was a kid she’s always wanted to be an author. “I’ve had a collection of poetry from things I have written over the years. I thought I might as well put it together. I was published in Reverie during the beginning of my sophomore year, and the support I received from my work really inspired me to actually share my poetry”. The title of her book was inspired by this first poem that was released in the magazine. “Since [Ignite Me] was the poem that started everything, it inspired me to ignite my love for poetry.”
Writing and then publishing a book is no easy task, especially as a junior in high school. So, we dove more into this with Cavolo in our interview. “The most challenging part was definitely formatting. Especially when working on the Kindle edition, because the formatting kept getting messed up and I had to keep going back in and fixing it.” However, publishing something as a teenager doesn’t just have to be a tedious task, it is also exciting and monumental. “The love and support that I have received from everyone in my life is overwhelming. As well as people that I haven’t talked to in a while have reached out and congratulated me, and it has made me feel very good about myself.”
Working on this big of a project is not easy to do alone. Cavolo has felt support from many people around her including her friends and family. “My sister has been my cornerstone throughout all of this. She was my first person to read my book. She’s been my primary encourager. As well as my mom, my best friend Megan, and many others.” After completing this process, Cavolo feels there is one thing she needs to tell people who hope to publish a book in their future. “Keep working on it. It may be a daunting task at times, but keep working on what you love because if you have a passion for it you can accomplish anything.”
After hearing the wise and poetic words from Maya Cavolo, is there anything that will inspire you to publish your own book?