CAMDEN — Two eighth-graders at Camden-Rockport Middle School have published their first book, a 150-page tale about the trials of a mule named Raul who goes to school in Montgomery, Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights era.

Inspired by a project in their seventh-grade social studies class, Henry Chamberlin and Bennet Geis began co-creating the book — trading off on writing as each came up with new ideas for the story line and characters.

“We were learning about the Civil Rights movement and had to make up a slogan about ending segregation in schools.” Chamberlin said in a news release. My idea was "Stop the cruel in school, and stop treating our children like mules.'”

In an email exchange, Geis raised the idea of a book and Chamberlin replied with what became the book’s title: Bravemule: the Incredibly True Story of Raul, the Coolest Mule in School Who Stood up to Segregation.

“From that day on,” Chamberlin said, “we became determined to write a book about our story's hero, Raul.”

They began writing Bravemule late in February 2014 and completed the book during the summer. Geis provided the illustrations, design and book cover. After some revisions, they self-published the book online.

Bravemule traces the story of a mule named Raul who grows up in the household of a woman in Montgomery, Alabama. They decide that he should participate in formal schooling, and a successful legal case wins Raul the right to attend Montgomery Public School for Juveniles.

Raul soon learns that attendance at school comes at a price when he is persecuted by other students. He befriends another boy, Benny, who is excluded due to race and the two of them support each other — until the day Benny disappears.

Plenty of drama marks the chapters that follow, some of it tied to real events that rocked Montgomery during the mid-1960s.

Both middle-school students juggled the creative demands of novel writing with school work and extracurricular activities. “It took hard work, inspiration and well over 200 hours of dedication,” Geis said in the news release, “but was worth every second of it.”

Bravemule is available online at http://www.lulu.com.