SHERWOOD, Ark. — The creator of the hit show CSI is publishing a graphic novel about a Sherwood boy who has faced bullying his entire life.
10-year-old Alex Bruorton was bullied constantly at school. He has a rare condition called cloves that causes the left side of his face to never stop growing.
"Almost everybody in the world has gotten bullied once or twice. Kind of one of the main things that happens a lot," Alex said.
Two years ago, Alex's story went viral when thousands of bikers lined up to take him to school to help him stand up to bullies.
Alex eventually had to turn to online school. But this year, he worked hard on his studies and skipped fourth grade. He will be heading into fifth.
"I've been good. I've been hanging around trying to slightly forget the bad times," Alex said.
But now Alex is turning those bad times into a lesson. Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator and producer of the hit show CSI, saw Alex's story and is turning him into a character.
"The whole biker rally to the school, that was a really empowering moment," Zuiker said. "This is really a young man built with great character and great courage."
Zuiker started his own book company with his wife in 2018. Called "Zuiker Press," the company tells stories based on real kids.
"Our first four [books] were divorce, cyberbullying, racism, and body image," Zuiker said.
Alex will be the ninth book, titled "Bullying."
"It’s such a big problem in all of our schools and Alex is such a heroic and amazing young man. We want to tell his story properly for the nation," Zuiker said.
Zuiker said Alex's book will be distributed to schools nationwide for free.
"What we do is we raise money in the community, foundations, high wealth individuals will donate sums of money to us so we buy our own books at a deep discount," Zuiker said.
The 72-page graphic novel is also written like a comic. The same people that have drawn superman and batman, will draw Alex, too.
"Inside is drawn by all the guys in DC vs. Marvel, it's very, very colorful," Zuiker said.
Alex said he wants other kids to pick up his book and know they are not alone.
"There's some kids bullied that got a little worse than me that aren't opening up and if they open up they can get help," Alex said.
Zuiker Press is aiming to have Alex's book published by Nov. 2020.