SPRINGDALE — Joti Tirsa hasn’t seen his mother since he left his native Marshall Islands a few years ago and moved to Northwest Arkansas.

An English class assignment at Sonora Middle School prompted Joti, 12, to write about his immigration experience.

“I missed my mom so much because she take care of my life since I was baby,” he wrote.

Joti was one of 37 Sonora sixth-graders who participated in an essay-writing contest in November — a contest that led to the top writers becoming published authors.

The contest was inspired by the book “First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants,” which English teacher Charlene Hornor’s students read during the fall.

“When we read this, we started to think about how we are connected to this,” Hornor said. Of Hornor’s 53 students, 44 have immigrated to the United States within the past four years.

The essay contest was arranged to give those students a chance to tell their own stories of immigration, or the stories of close relatives. The top 10 essays — as judged by Hornor, Sonora Principal Shawna Lyons and instructional facilitator Shelly Perry — were combined into a book titled “First Crossing: Kids with ‘Real’ Stories About Immigrating to the United States.”

Essays were judged on content, focus, mechanics, organization and style.

“It was very hard to choose,” Hornor said. “All of (the students’) stories are important.”

Joti said he was nervous when it came time to announce the winners.

“I thought I was not going to make it,” he said Monday. “They announced my name, and I was so happy, I almost cried.”

Hornor found a publisher who could produce a hardcover book containing the top 10 essays. Originally she planned to get just one copy that would be kept in her classroom.

A friend of Hornor’s, however, decided to pay for additional copies, including enough for each of the contest winners.

The friend, who wanted to remain anonymous, “had tears in her eyes” after reading the essays, Hornor said.

On Monday, the students gathered in the Sonora library, where the contest winners received copies of their books and signed them for each other.

After Hornor’s initial order of 15, she has since ordered an additional 20 copies to satisfy requests from students and other teachers in the district.

“Some of the other teachers said, ‘I need that for next year when we teach immigration,’” she said.

Lyons said she’s seen similar school projects, but not to the extent of getting a book published in hardback form. The students’ passion came out in their writing, she said.

“When you hit on a topic students are passionate about, you get their best writing,” Lyons said.

Marje Langbata, whose essay “My Family and I” is part of the book, described how her mouth went “straight down and nearly touched the soft rug” when she heard she’d be leaving the Marshall Islands for the United States. She discussed some of the struggles she had adjusting to her new life.

“Since then my brother and I have learned to like living in the U.S.,” she wrote. “It just takes a while to get used to something different than you are used to.”

Hornor said the essay contest demonstrated her students’ excitement about writing, but it also gives something for readers to consider.

“These kids who have immigrated here are people. They are real people with real stories who are worth listening to,” she said. “Every one of those kids have an amazing story.”

Students in Hornor’s classes who don’t have an immigration story of their own served as “supportive writing partners” to the students who wrote the essays, she said.