 One local woman is taking her love for sports and turning it towards books. For this week's Golden Apple, our Sarah Winckelman takes us to Garfield Elementary to meet the local author. So here it was, time for the big game. I had 999 points and we had a home game. Shelly Boyen-Breen is reliving the game when she played for Brainerd High School and became the first female basketball player to score 1,000 career points. Then many years later, she turned her passion of sports into a series of children's books. The next day she dug through the hall closet and found her brother Ben's hockey skates. I didn't enjoy reading when I was young and one of the reasons is because I couldn't see myself in books and so I wanted to write a children's book series where all kids could see themselves with the hopes that they'd get involved in reading early on. And so the character Shelly Beane, the sports queen, was born. A girl aspect of, you know, having that role model as a girl athlete, but then just the athletics. I mean, all the boys were just as excited about the books. It was really cool. She inspired me a lot to do the sports that I wanted to do. Whether it's hockey, basketball, or one of the books still to come, Shelly Beane always learns a new skill, but one thing about her character always remains the same. She's always got to wear the number nine and the reason for that is my tribute to title nine. All those people that have come before me who've helped pave the way so that I could take part in all the sports that I was able to play and keep that momentum moving forward. So Shelly Beane is going to wear that number nine as a tribute. She hopes through Shelly Beane, the sports queen, kids will know that it's okay to fail when you try new things and it's important to get back up and keep playing. Shelly is just a great role model for Brainerd kids, a Brainerd graduate, somebody who just really kind of followed her dreams and her passion. Shelly Beane, the sports world and beyond. I'm just so excited that the doors are opening for books like these and I really think that we need to be demanding that more books like these are in front of our kids in our libraries and in our schools. For this week's Golden Apple, in Brainerd, Sarah Winkelman, Lakeland News. Shelly Beane, the sports queen will learn to swim in the next book that comes out in mid-March. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.