South Asian female author writes young adult book about challenges Indian kids face
Joya Dass
Jul 13, 2015
Author, mother, and South Asian lady entrepreneur Amanda Sohan will be giving away copies of her newly minted book THE SLIPPER at the August Edition of LadyDrinks Mother Daughter Party. The book, aimed at kids between the ages of 8 and 12, and centers on a girl who is fraught with worry about an incident from her past. She also worries about being the target of judgment if she reveals it.
Sohan was a bit of a bookworm growing up, but discovered there was one glaring difference between her and the characters.
“Characters in the books had the freedom to express their angst and struggle as teenagers,” says Sohan. “My sister and I did not.”
“Where were the books about the challenges Indian children face? I’ve ever seen [that kind of literature] on the shelves at my local library or at Barnes and Nobles. I think it would be nice for a child to open a book and see illustrated characters that look similar to him/her.”
Sohan had been writing since the age of 13, so she wrote “The Slipper” as spoof on the storyline of the popular 2000 Indian film called “Dadhkan,” about arranged marriages and choices.+It was her entry into a contest for screenplay writing.
Today, The Slipper is available for purchase on Amazon. Sohan’s hope is that readers will come away with the valuable lesson that a past, good or bad, should never be the anchor that weighs down the present. “Doing so,” she says, “only robs you of what could be a beautiful future.”
Sohan also offers advice to her fellow women who suspect they might have a book lurking in them: Simply sit down and put pen to paper.
“If you want to write, write. Write because you have a story in you that is dying to get out. Don’t make it any more complicated than that. The next steps will come. It could be the beginning of something wonderful.
I had shot a series of documentaries in the slums of Nairobi a few years ago. It was a project for the Rockefeller Foundation. Amanda will be sending 25 copies of THE SLIPPER to a school in Mukuru, headed by Clement Oloo.
“Being presented with the opportunity to donate 25 of my books to Nairobi was nothing short of an honor. I am thrilled to be a part of an effort to fill a need in this distant part of the world. It’s quite an amazing feeling to know that a child/young adult across the world will sit down and read my work. I will happily keep up with Joya’s humanitarian efforts in that part of the globe. And would love to know what the kids think about our work and the many authors Joya supports.”