South Carolina freshman looks to inspire youth behind children’s book series

At 17 years old, South Carolina offensive lineman Anthony Baxter sat down with his mom in their kitchen. The young Rock Hill, S.C., native’s football career was beginning to take off at South Pointe High School. His future in football started to become secure. However, this conversation was not about that. Baxter wanted to do something different. He wanted to write a children’s book. The GamecockCentral staff and subscribers are discussing this now on The Insiders Forum. “Me and my momma sat down in the kitchen, and we thought about some ideas to write a book,” Baxter said at Pigskin’s Poets on Friday. “So we jotted down brainstorms, a lot of things, and I decided on the name of the book. I wanted the name to be the best.” In the end, the story titles blend Anthony Baxter, writer, with Anthony Baxter, football player, almost perfectly. The name of the book became “The First Quarter Adventures”, the first of a four-book series written by Baxter. The series follows a kid named Anthony over his adventures in elementary school. The second in the series is titled “The Second Quarter Adventures” and features Anthony in his high school No. 75 jersey on the cover. Baxter hopes the books inspire children to read at a young age. While the college freshman likes writing today, he did not like reading as a child and even struggled with the subject. Baxter even went so far as to say that as a kid, he didn’t want to learn how to read. As college programs recruited Baxter, the book remained in the back of his mind. However, the then-17-year-old struggled with perfectionism throughout the writing process, constantly getting stuck. Once he finally completed the first story, he excitedly surprised his teammates with it. “They all came to my dorm when I told them that,” Baxter said. “… I read it to them.” Baxter said the largest groups of people he read the book to are South Carolina’s volleyball team and freshman football class. He also returned to his childhood elementary school, Sunset Park Elementary, to read the first book in the series to class. However, Baxter’s first reading of the book was to his longtime best friend and teammate, defensive back J’Zavien Currence. Currence and Baxter’s friendship dates back to the sixth grade. After spending high school together at South Pointe, both players joined Shane Beamer’s South Carolina program. “It kind of surprised me because we always talked about it, and then he kind of popped out with it,” Currence said Friday. “… I’m just proud of him for giving back to the community.” Baxter hopes his series of books inspires children to find a passion for reading. Additionally, the South Carolina lineman hopes the series inspires confidence in young children. As Baxter grows older, he wants to add full-length novels to his skillset. “I’m going to finish the whole series. I’ve written two so far,” Baxter said. “I want children to read young so they can learn.” Baxter’s first two books are available on Amazon for $9.99 each and will be available at Richland Library soon. What do you think? Join the discussion on The Insiders Forum.