He's young with a message wise beyond his years. Local author, Jiles Clark is reminding his peers about the importance of 'Never Giving Up.'
"So, I wrote a book called 'Never Give Up,'" Jiles said. "The book is kind of like a race that you run in terms of different points in your life."
Even at the young age of 12 years old, the Fort Worth ISD student is using his voice and the power of storytelling to help others finish what he calls "the marathon of our lives" and he wants the world to know, he is on a mission.
He hopes to heal hurting hearts with the power of his words and you don't need the pages of his first book to witness his passion for people.
There is a real-life story behind the story in his first book.
"The reason why I wrote [the book] is because one of my friends from school about a year ago, he was telling me some things that were going around in his family outside of school," Jiles added.
It's a life lesson learned at an early age, always pay attention to those around you.
"When he told me he felt like giving up, for some reason, it sparked me," Jiles said. "I said, 'No, don't give up. Don't ever give up. That'll make it worse.' And I remember it was pain and hurt in his eyes, but when I told him that, hope filled his eyes.”
His latest challenge was turning his first book into an 8-minute video story for an audience well outside of North Texas.
"I participated in a Moroccan storytelling festival and it was international," he added. "They wanted you to create a story or tell a story in a creative, fun, interesting way."
That's exactly what Jiles does on a daily basis, merging his personality and words to help others see the positive things happening all around us.
"The world has been going through things, but I know a lot of people are going through personal things that they haven't been talking about," he said. "You just gotta remember to hang on in there and never give up because you're almost there. You're almost at the finish line.”
Jiles is currently working on a new book called, “Be Yourself.”