Island Princess in Brooklyn

Island Princess in Brooklyn, by Diane Browne, is a story about a girl who leaves her beloved Jamaica to go and live with her mother in Brooklyn. She tells of her shocks and challenges, her mistakes and triumphs, and her eventual acceptance of her new life.
   On Friday, March 16, 2012 Mr. Nicklaus Bromfield of Carlong Publishers, Ms. Pauline Shuttleworth of Sangster's Bookstore (Montego Bay, King Street Branch) and I promoted this book, which is a title in Carlong's Sand Pebble Series.
   The promotion was at St. James Parish Library before a select audience of teachers and students from Chetwood Memorial, Howard Cooke and Barracks Road Primary Schools, St. James Prep School and Haughton's Academy. In spite of the fact that the majority of the students were younger than the intended age range, they were most attentive, super-intelligent and well-spoken.

    I began with a discussion of what is meant by fiction and that, although Princess is a fictional character, the location is real. This led into my reading of the first two chapters, followed by questions. Mr. Bromfield then talked about the Sand Pebble Series, mentioning other books such as Bernie and the Captain's Ghost by Hazel Campbell and Every Little Thing Will Be All Right, also by Diane Browne. Then I read part of chapter 18, "What did I miss most?" - Princess's account of the way in which everybody in Jamaica stops what they are doing to watch important international sprint events, and her class-mates' reactions.
    The promotion came to a close with the presentation of prizes to the first students to put up their hands and give the right answers to questions. During refreshment time after the function, I was pleased that several students came to speak to me, including one eight-year-old wanting advice on how to become an author. She is already doing the right thing by writing every day and being a voracious reader!
    We authors tend to get discouraged when publishers reject our manuscripts, and upset when bookshops don't display our published books as prominently as we would like. We sometimes forget that publishing and bookselling are businesses which depend entirely on sales. They are cautious about taking risks with little known writers and titles, fearing having capital locked up for too long in books that don't sell. We have to thank Carlong Publishers and Sangsters bookstores for not only taking that risk, but also for actively promoting the books. I appeal to my readers to make their gamble pay off, by buying Island Princess in Brooklyn when looking for birthday and Christmas gifts for 10-14 year-olds. For Jamaicans abroad, it would be a genuine Jamaican gift to take back from a holiday in Jamaica, (unlike a souvenir made in China).