I started writing for children then, and never stopped. I had recently moved to Brooklyn, NY, and the book spoke to my situation precisely. I didn't decide what I wanted to write until I read 'The Friends' by Rosa Guy. When I was about thirteen, after spending a summer in the library reading Paul Zindel and Judy Blume among other authors, I announced to my best friend that I was going to be a writer. I was fascinated by the stories of the tailor who went up against a giant, and clever Hans, who wasn't so clever as well as the more traditional princess stories. My favorite, was an oversized complete Grimm's Fairy Tales with beautiful illustrations, which I lost when my family moved to the United States. With its action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales, Rise of the Jumbies will appeal to readers of A Snicker of Magic, Breadcrumbs, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.įrom Thompson-Gale: 'Something About the Author' The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the foe that waits for her back home. Corinne and her friends Dru, Bouki, and Malik must travel with mermaids across the ocean to the shores of Ghana to fetch a powerful object for Mama D’Leau. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. When local children begin to go missing, snatched from the beach and vanishing into wells, suspicious eyes turn to Corinne. Everyone knows Corinne is half-jumbie, and many of her neighbors treat her with mistrust. Corinne LaMer defeated the wicked jumbie Severine months ago, but things haven’t exactly gone back to normal in her Caribbean island home.

Rise of the jumbies