At the age of just 14, Rozharia Riley has already published her first book – a tale of self-empowerment and self-belief for children, though it contains a lesson many adults could also benefit from.
Rozharia began writing when she was 9. After being shortlisted in a national writing competition in 2021, she came to the attention of Karen Chin of CLM Publishing, which has published her book, ‘The Girl With a Million Hairstyles’.
During a recent interview with the Cayman Compass, Rozharia said she was inspired to write the book because she wanted to use her words to help young people who are struggling with self-confidence and peer pressure.
“I’ve realised that a message is most likely to stick with someone if it’s told to them as a story,” she said.
From watching the news and seeing Tik Toks, she “saw all these young people, especially young girls, were being pressured by society to change the way that they look and act just to fit the status quo in their communities. … Obviously, this isn’t right.”
She decided to tackle the message in the form of a children’s book, “so children will know [to be] be aware of this and also know how to deal with it”.
Joey’s dilemma
In her book, the main character is a cheerful sixth grader called Joey, who has freckles, glasses and pigtails, and loves to hug people. When her classmates start making mean comments about her appearance and behaviour, she gives herself a makeover in an effort to fit in.
“But then eventually,” Rozharia said, “she learns that everyone’s definition of perfect is different and you can’t live to appease people, you will ultimately end up disappointing another person, so you should just be yourself.”
It’s a message Rozharia says all people, children and adults, need – to accept themselves and to build their self-confidence.
The book is aimed at children aged 9 and under, though the young author says, “It’s for everybody because it deals with low self-esteem and that’s really a cognitive, running issue in humans, in society.”
Rozharia, the youngest of three sisters, recalls all three of them as young kids making their TV shows for their ‘Girls TV’ station, written by them and usually starring their toys. At the age of 9, she hand-wrote her first ‘TV show’. in her comprehension notebook, about a group of teenagers living together in a house.
Before deciding her future career would be as a writer, she says she considered others – an astronaut, a paediatrician, a marine biologist, an environmentalist, a movie director.
She doesn’t do things by halves. When she wanted to be a paediatrician, she had set up a Google account specifically for her research, and would print out pages and pages from paediatric websites, which she highlighted and made notes on, “like it was a school assignment”. Similarly, when she was thinking about being a marine biologist, she learned the names and behaviour of a huge variety of fish.
Her dad, Rohan Riley, says it was this ability to access and absorb information on her own initiative that prompted her family to enrol her in Griggs International Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist online schooling programme.
Getting published
In 2021, Rozharia entered the 2021 Cayman Young Writers Competition, and her story ‘Loose Leg’ was shortlisted.
“Even though I didn’t win, I was offered a book deal by CLM Publishing,” she said.
‘Loose Leg’ appears at the back of ‘The Girls With a Million Hairstyles’, which is illustrated by Lashawntae Robinson.
Rozharia says the book has been accepted by the Ministry of Education to be on its reading list.
She is now in the midst of promoting ‘The Girl With a Million Hairstyles’.
“I really want to get it out to children, and children’s homes and schools, and do events helping young people. … What I want to do is inspire young Caymanian people. I’m just a regular teen – I have chores. I have parents, I have a dad who makes dad jokes. I just followed my dream because I love it that much, so I want to inspire young Caymanian kids to do the same.”
She added, “I want young people to look at me and other young people and see this isn’t impossible, that ‘someone who looks like me and acts like me and is my age has done this before’.”
Her proud dad says he has seen other kids approach his daughter to tell she has motivated them.
He says he admires her ability to write and speak publicly on the subjects in her book. “There is a problem, you know, with inferiority complex and low self-esteem with kids. This is my child, but I was so impressed she was able to tackle this issue. Because low self-esteem is so impactful, even among adults who say ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I can’t do that’. For a kid to tap into that – that’s why I signed up as a non-paid employee,” he said.
He accompanies her on media interviews and public appearances as she promotes the book.
With advice from her dad, Rozharia is building up her business and brand, drawing up a business model and dealing with marketing and supply chains.
Earlier this month, she appeared with a group of other local authors at George Town Library.
“That was awesome,” she said. “I was the youngest one there, but I felt so comfortable. I was surrounded by these other authors who have the same sort of mindset as me. A lot of young people who heard me on the radio came with their parents, asking for a copy of the book, and I just felt so happy because this is why I wrote the book, to inspire young people.”
She admits she has faced pushback and opposition when it comes to her writing, from people who say she’s too young to be published, or too young to write knowledgeably about certain subjects.
But she says young ambitious writers shouldn’t allow this to put them off.
“Words are the most important and valuable resource that we have at our disposal,” she said. “They can impact people in such a way, they can hurt people or they can lift them up. … Your words are important. Just the desire to get those words out there is more than enough reason to start something that someone else might think is impossible – the message that you yourself have to share is important.”
‘The Girl with a Million Hairstyles’ is available in local bookstores. To find out more or to connect with Rozharia, visit her website RozhariaRiley.com or her Facebook or Instagram pages.
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