About the author
My novel Looking Up is a story about family separation, migration and love through the eyes of thirteen year old Esi. Thirteen-year-old Esi is reluctantly on her way to London, England.
After many happy years with Grandma in Ghana, she is joining Maggie, the mother she hasn’t lived with since the age of six.
Her move to London, not only forces Esi to deal with challenges she’s never faced before, but it brings up lots of questions about Solomon, her absent father, and Maggie - the answers to which in the end change her life.
About the book
Looking Up is a breezy read that gives great insight into teenage life, immigrant viewpoints, and multicultural perspectives. Through her migration and adjustment story, we learn more about her family roots and cultural traditions in Ghana.
Esi’s grandmothers and school friends are critical characters. Some are the source of her challenges while others guide her through tough times. The story covers the topics of bullying, parenting styles, divorce, the role of extended family, and ethnocentrism/racism.
For example, Esi is put in lower level classes because of assumptions made of her previous schooling in “Africa.” She is mistreated by friends because of the way she talks and who she hangs out with.
More about Abena Eyeson:
www.abenaeyesonwrites.com
