Welcome our newest book club member Natasha Deen. Natasha talks about her wonderful children's book Maria and the Plague: A Black Death Survival Story - part of the Girls Survive book series. It was a pleasure meeting speaking with Natasha. If you are looking for book for your daughter that teaches how resilient girls really are - this is the book for you!
You can learn about all of Natasha's book by visiting: https://natashadeen.com/
NATASHA DEEN’S confession? She didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer. The deeper confession? She really wanted to be a superhero.
Her family moved from Guyana to Canada* to escape the country’s growing racial and political violence.
She loved growing up in a country of snow and flannel, but sometimes, being the only mixed-race kid in class meant being bullied and feeling invisible because there were no reflections of her on TV or in movies, and it meant growing up feeling different from everybody. Thank goodness for books and comic books. They were full of weird, oddball, don’t-quite-fit-in characters who turned out to be amazing and cool and found their happy endings.
These days, Natasha writes for kids, teens, and adults, and she loves mixing mystery, action, and creepy with a whole lot of humour. Her books have been described as “gripping” (School Library Connection), “engaging” (CM Magazine) and “feel good” (VOYA).
And her final confession? Writing is the hardest thing she’ll ever do, but she loves it because writing is story, and our stories change the world.
*Natasha was born in Canada, but moved to Guyana when she was three-weeks old. She grew up in Nandy Park (south-west of Georgetown) before returning to Canada when she was five.
