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Author's bid to inspire mixed race children with new book – Southend Echo
AN author is hoping to inspire mixed race children in his new book.
Writer Stuart Fryd’s latest novel includes a mixed-race girl as the main character.
Scarlett in Knoware will be launched in the town on Thursday, November 28.
The book, which has similarities to Alice in Wonderland, focuses on Scarlett, who gets more than she bargained for when visiting her dad.
Scarlett accidentally enters Knoware and must embark on a Wizard of Oz-style quest to return. But she is armed only with a map and a magic mirror.
She must make friends with mysterious fairytale creatures along the way, and when she returns home, she has significantly more respect for her father after becoming increasingly annoyed by traveling by train every Friday to visit him.
Mr Fryd, who has lived in Billericay and Shenfield throughout his life, told the Echo he is hoping that his new book will inspire black, Asian, and mixed race children.
The 39-year-old, who teaches at a school in Barking, said: “If you look at children’s books, in 90 per cent of them, there isn’t a mixed race hero or main character. That has to change.
“Children just don’t have someone to look up to or relate to.
“They don’t know who to dress up as on World Book Day.
“If a child reads books that are all about white boys and girls, that’s what they believe society is like. Life is all about experiences.
“That’s where the inspiration behind the book came from.
“There are mixed race characters in films, but not in books.
“I would much rather every child read books rather than only a few read mine.
“The book’s a modern, more urban version of Alice in Wonderland.
“There’s a few messages in there that are important for children to learn.
Scarlett in Knoware is being launched at Billericay Theatre on November 28, from 7.30pm.
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