Charles Allenn

My desk is a large drafting table with a keyboard slide I attached to it. I had a couple of conventional desks before, but the office look didn't fit my personality. I needed a space that was more like a workshop that freed my creative energy. In the left corner of my desk is a replica of Rodin's sculpture The Thinker. It's a symbol of the long hours of brainwork I put in there every day.

The idea for it came during the time of a family "crisis." My fifteen year old son, Kalani, has special needs, and he had just graduated from middle school. My daughters, Karimba and Malawi, thought we were sending him to a private school that caters to children like him. When my wife and I told them he would be attending our local high school, they freaked out because they were afraid he would be teased by the other students. One day it dawned on me that this was a great idea for a book. So now we have High School Boot Camp which stars Karimba and Malawi who come up with a plan to prepare their kid brother for high school. Along the way, they take on six other teens headed to the dreaded Punchville High. Together they have a crazy summer experience that changes their lives forever.