I’m glad to hear it! Their are other books on the authorship question, but Anderson really does the best job of showing how an authir’s life and his/her work are really inseparable.
Yes, writing about herself in the essay is the way to go. She sounds like a special girl and should have a lot to write about. Same for your son.
Do you have the Fiske Guide to Colleges? I wonder how your son might react to the descriptions of project based learning environments as are found at Olin and WPI.