Black British born Jamaican author, Kande Summers has penned her first book entitled Going Home: Diary of a Teenage Alien. This book is written through the adolescent lens of the main character, Liz, who adopts a dystopian and explorative perspective of how an intergalactic war would impact life on earth.
Kande is the first in her family to have written and published a book. And she has achieved it at the very young age of 12. As a reserved and curious child, she began reading at a very early age, while attending Oldfield Primary School in Maidenhead, England.
At the age of 7, she immigrated with her parents to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). There, she attended English-speaking schools in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, and she began to develop a love for English literature and various writing styles, poetry especially.
Influenced by her growing interest in writing, Kande’s first venture into writing began at the age of 10, by virtue of her effervescent younger brother, which inspired her to write a poem entitled ‘My Spirited Little Brother’.
Kande has had the good fortune of attending numerous book fairs, with her parents. Her path to writing success began in 2020 after she entered a writing competition, where she wrote about her mum. Kande’s unexpected win in the competition then motivated her to begin her writing journey with her parents’ support.
Having tasted success, the UAE-resident embarked on independent research in the world of book publishing, eventually finding a suitable publishing company and an affordable publishing platform. This helped Kande to publish her very first book, producing its entire content, including all the illustrations.
The book, which was launched at the 39th staging of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) 2020, Going Home: Diary of a Teenage Alien is now available for purchase on Amazon, in both Kindle and paperback format for those who still love the feel of a book in their hand as well as smell the paper.
Furthermore, reports say that Kande has signed an undisclosed deal with Egypt’s Kotopia Publishing House, to have the Arabic translation of the book published in the summer of 2021.
Besides writing, Kande is also an accomplished artist and performer. She is currently writing her second book. She hopes to inspire young people like herself to achieve things that have appeared seemingly impossible to them and the people around them.
To learn more about Kande’s work, check her out on Instagram@royalkween.art and on Twitter @ks_summers12
