Fox 59

Teen sisters publish a book about diversity and inclusion

INDIANAPOLIS — Teen sisters Briah and Taylor O’Neal combined forces to write and illustrate a book on diversity and inclusion in the sport of tennis.

Published in 2019, “Serve It to Me, Too!” is the story of a girl name Deja who develops an interest in tennis and goes on to explore the benefits of courage, hard work, diversity and inclusion in sports.

Briah, the author, and Taylor, the illustrator, are accomplished tennis players who began playing with they were 4 and 3 years old, respectively. The girls played for Bloomington South High School before the family moved to Indianapolis ahead of this school year.

The idea to create the book was their own, but they were encouraged along the way by their mom, an English teacher turned English professor. Briah, now a high school junior, started the process by writing the story.

“The book is about diversity and inclusion in tennis, because growing up in tennis we didn’t see much. It was just about really bringing awareness to that,” she said. “Like, hey, I’m here. I’m just as good as you guys and I’m ready to go.”

Then she handed the project to Taylor, now a sophomore, who brought the story to life with illustrations. Taylor modeled the characters on her family, although she did take some creative liberties.

“I did change a couple things, like my dad — he has hair in the book,” she said.

Buy “Serve It to Me, Too!” on Amazon in paperback or Kindle form and follow the sisters on Facebook or Instagram at @theonealsistahs.