Episode 27 --- Tamika Gibson
Photo Credit: Leah Roth
Tamika Gibson's debut novel, Dreams Beyond the Shore, is set in Trinidad and Tobago and tells the story of teenagers, Chelsea Marchand and Kyron Grant. At first glance, it appears to be a traditional coming-of-age love story. But the issues these kids are facing are anything but typical. Chelsea's dad works hard to hide his shady past while running for prime minister, and Kyron's dad, a successful businessman who doesn't live with his family, is dealing with scandals of his own.
Tamika grew up in Trinidad and Tobago and now lives in Atlanta. She says when she was a young reader it was hard to find contemporary books set in her home country, so she spent a lot of time reading American and British books.
Dreams Beyond the Shore won the Burt Award for Caribbean literature in 2016 and was published last year. I caught up with Tamika this past November at the Miami Book Fair.
Interview Highlights:
Tamika reveals...
- Why she decided to tell this story through the alternating first-person accounts of Chelsea and Kyron
- Why this novel is a bit of a love letter to Trinidad and Tobago
- Why she never considered holding back while writing about things such as crime and corruption for a young audience
Click here to listen to the podcast.
We have a free, signed copy of Dreams Beyond the Shore for the first listener to tell us one of the books that Tamika says she would be happy to read over and over again for the rest of her life. To answer, just send us a tweet @ReadMorePodcast or write on our Facebook page.
If you and I ever attended Cooper Middle School together, you're probably ineligible. ReadMore does not have a friends and family plan! But we'll always have those memories of Mr. Toler and Mr. Moore.
You can also support ReadMore when you buy this book from Amazon using the link below:
Dreams Beyond the Shore
EDITED TO ADD: Tammi Bannister, a listener from Barbados, answered the question correctly on Twitter on 3/2/18 and will receive a free, signed copy of Tamika's book.