'Suddenly I Couldn't at the anows Trace each lette wte the letters and words MA Read or Write'

WHEN AXI MOK WAS 8, A RARE DISORDER ATTACKED HER BRAIN. WRITING A BOOK HELPED HER FIGHT HER WAY BACK

- EILEEN FINAN AND WENDY GROSSMAN KANTOR

Axi Mok was a standout student when she started second grade. But one month into the school year, she was struggling to write her own name. "I was confused: 'How come I can't do this anymore?"" recalls Mok, now 15. "It was really scary."

It marked the beginning of a long battle with a mysterious disease that whittled away at Mok's cognitive function. "From second to fifth grade, she couldn't count to five," says her mom, Helie, a writer and painter. But after seven years Mok is not only able to write her name again-she's written her first book, The Adventure to the Ancient Iceberg. "She's come back with a vengeance," says her dad, Ken, a TV producer who helped develop America's Next Top Model.