Virtual Book Tour, Loyal, a Young Adult Novel
Releasing August 30, 2016
Releasing August 30, 2016
About The Author
Yasmin Shiraz is an author, filmmaker, speaker and activist. She uses her passion for life to fuel her books, documentaries, speaking engagements and social activities. She’s spoken at over 100 colleges, universities, middle schools and high schools as well as non-profit organizations.
She’s an award winning Writer/ Director and enjoys producing work on youth and community issues. By day, she’s the President of Still Eye Rise Media and runs the Yasmin Shiraz website.
About The Book
When a teen girl discovers her brother has been shot, she learns about firsthand about loyalty. Should her brother be more loyal to her or the gang members he's so eager to impress?
Q.
Please tell the readers who are the main characters?
Tashera Odom and Khalil Odom-whom are
sister and brother- are the main characters.
Q.
What or is there conflict in the
story?
The conflict in the story is about
loyalty. When Khalil is shot and left for dead, he clings to loyalty to his
gang, while his sister feels he should depart from his gang affiliations.
Q. Which characters in “are you most
like?
I'm most
similar to Tashera. I'm very inquisitive like she is. If I don't understand
something, I ask questions.
Q. Take us inside “your book” What are two major
events taking place?
When Khalil
is shot and it is revealed that his gang members rather take him home than to
the hospital. That event was very telling about how much the gang members cared
about his life.
When Khalil
is on the operating table thinking about which 'truth' he's going to tell his
family he realizes that his sister is the only person who always knows when
he's lying. Most people worry about what they are going to tell their parents,
he was concerned about his sister. That spoke to the level of intimacy in their
relationship.
Q. Are your characters from the portrayal of real people?
My
relationship with my brother was the foundation for this novel. As teenagers we
were very close and I wanted to capture the essence of a close brother/sister
relationship.
Q. Describe each character in three
words?
Tashera -
Inquisitive, Determined, Fearless
Khalil -
Insecure, Confused, Afraid
Q. One of your lead
characters has “fears” that keeps him from seeing the truth about his gang. Do
you think sometimes we let our fears get in the way of what God has planned for
our futures?
Yes. Fear has
a way of preventing us from leading authentic and empowered lives. Wherein
Tashera wanted to see the truth in all things, Khalil was afraid of not fitting
in and being seen as 'less than' in the eyes of his peers.
Q. How do you see yourself in your
character’s story, if at all?
My
relationship with my own brother is thoroughly interwoven throughout this novel. There were decisions my brother made in his
life that I never quite understood, but I always asked questions. There were
times as a teen that I didn't agree with my brother, but I always loved him
regardless.
Q. Is there an overall theme to this
novel?
The overall
theme to Loyal is that you must love your family members through their pains
and through bad decisions. You also must love them even when you don't
understand the decisions they make.
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