Young people have become published authors as they told a story of aliens who thought a dog called Boris ruled the earth.

A group of Year 9 students from Paulet High School and Sixth Form College, in Stapenhill, have proved that when it comes to imagination they wrote the book – literally.

The pupils can now see their hard work available for all to buy as their book, Silence in the Woods, goes on sale through Amazon.

The new release came about when the young writers were handed a story brief and they had to brainstorm ideas and develop characters. By the end of the day they had plotted the entire story.

Then they started writing. The sci-fi tale is about aliens escaping a war-torn planet when they crash on earth and seek refuge.

The first living thing they come across is a dog called Boris, which is assumed to be the planet's dominant species.

East Staffordshire mayor Simon Gaskin with pupils from Paulet High School

A pair of young friends discover the crashed ship and are kidnapped. A retired police officer is on the case, but he is more interested in finding the dog to impress its owner, Mildred for whom he holds a flame.

One of the pupils said: "The book is a sci-fi book about aliens. My character is a leader of an alien invasion against earth. His name is Zargo. I have really enjoyed this week. I especially enjoyed the writing part – it's an amazing experience."

To celebrate their success, the pupils held a book signing at the school which was attended by East Staffordshire Mayor Simon Gaskin. He presented the pupils with certificates to mark all they had achieved with head teacher Ian McArthur.

Councillor Gaskin said: "Excellent event for a brilliant activity for the pupils to take part in. We are very pleased to be here to present the certificates to all those involved, and would like to congratulate all those who took part, including pupils and teachers."

Mr McArthur said: "Today is a wonderful celebration for the students and their parents. It just goes to show, hard work does pay off."

Burton MP Andrew Griffiths was unable to attend the book signing due to Parliamentary business but did write to the pupils to congratulate them and said he was looking forward to reading the book.

It said: "The comments of your mentors are a glowing tribute of how hard you all worked and worked together. I am sure you must all be extremely proud of your achievement."

Young authors from Paulet High School with some of the teachers who helped them and East Staffordshire mayor Simon Gaskin

Ahsan Ashraf, progress and achievement coordinator at the school who organised the project, said: "Our students have worked very hard and have had a brilliant opportunity to be able to write and publish a book in a week. They have made their school, parents and peers very proud."

Claire McArthur, the school's head of English, said: "It's amazing to see such close collaboration between the students. They have worked together non-stop all week and built up a real momentum to get the book published. I think we have made some upcoming famous authors."

Richard Seymour from Keele University, worked with the pupils throughout the week to produce the book.

He said: "The writers from Paulet have really impressed me. We don't give them any ideas. They have complete ownership of the book.

"It's totally their achievement. It's been wonderful to see them organise themselves and grow in confidence. The support from the school and staff has been fantastic too."

Silence in the Woods available to buy on Amazon at http://amzn.eu/baVUOCu