Professors and acquaintances of Thernstrom say that they are not surprised by the success of her project.

"She has always been one of those students who you feel like you're learning something from," Blumenthal says. "From her poems and conversations with her I was very struck by what a wonderful heart she had."

Blumenthal recalls a project that melanie wrote for his class during her freshman year. "Melanie wrote this truly astonishing thing in three parts. The first section was called `Thoughts on Love,' the second was `Thoughts on God' and the third was `Thoughts on Self.' It was astonishing how well-read she was in different areas and how well she was able to assimilate all of the information," he remembers.

Melanie's father, Winthrop Professor of History Stephen Thernstrom, says that he is "very happy and proud." He adds, "I am staggered by the whole thing, particularly because the book is very good. It is not a Harlequin Romance, it is a deeply moving personal memoir."

Melanie's English independent study advisor for three years in high school, Dr. Richard Shohet, says, "Melanie is the most gifted high school student I have worked with in all of my 30 years of teaching."

After the revisions on the book are finished, Thernstrom says she hopes to travel to Ireland on a fellowship that she won from Harvard. And in the meantime, she will continue work on a novel she started this summer.