Sharjah: A 12-year old British girl, who has been fascinated with stories of space adventures at a young age, will launch her debut novel at the 39th Sharjah International Book Fair on Saturday.
Kande Summers said finding the central for her book, Going Home: Diary of a Teenage Alien, was not much of a struggle. “Although the writing process was not smooth all the time, but when I got into the flow, I found I could flesh out my characters and develop the story in the right direction,” she said.
Her book is written through the adolescent lens of its protagonist, Lizzy, who provides a dystopian yet explorative perspective on how to adapt to environmental change following an intergalactic war that changed the world.
Winner at a writing competition
Before writing her debut novel, Summers won a competition last year that offered a one-to-one mentoring in writing and publishing a book. She won in the under-12 category organised by Lit Publishing and received guidance in drafting a novel over the course of one year.
A resident of the UAE since the age of 7, Summers has always been interested in space adventures. According to her parents, she began reading at a very early age whilst attending Oldfield Primary School in Maidenhead, England. Eventually, she developed a deep love of English literature, and got families with various writing styles and poetry.
Apart from writing, Summers is also an accomplished artist and an aspiring singer.
Advice to budding writers
The young girl, who is homeschooled in the UAE, has this advice for her peers: “Whatever it is that you want to do, seek help and get the necessary support but put in the hard work to reap the best results.”
Going Home: Diary of a Teenage Alien will be launched at 5pm on November 7 at Hall 6, Expo Centre Sharjah, where the young author will sign copies of her books.
This year’s edition of SIBF is a combination of online and face-to-face events. Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), SIBF 2020 will run until November 14. Online or in-person visitors can register for upcoming discussions.
