ABOUT US
Welcome! We are Kirsten and Aiyven of Mbawa Books. We live in Northampton with our parents, youngest sister Kaitlyn, pet cat Zaki and pet pigeon Gus. Its fair to say we are voracious readers and book reviewers. Sagas of Anya by Kirsten & Land Of The Nurogons by Aiyven are our debut middle-grade novels. Our books started life as entries to the 2019 BBC 500 Words writing contest. Even though we weren't successful, we turned our entries into middle-grade novels which are now on sale on Amazon & our website.
You may have watched our reviews of children, middle-grade or young adult books on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. Or you may have seen us on BBC Look East or even in The WeekJnr magazine. Whichever way, we're sure by now, you get the idea that we are mad about books.
ABOUT OUR BOOKS
Sagas of Anya by Kirsten Mbawa
What would you do if you had to become a maid at thirteen working for a nasty housekeeper? After her mam dies, 12yr old Anya watches as her once loving tad turns to drink. Things hit a new low the next year and Anya is forced to travel from Victorian Cardiff to London to become a scullery maid at Tippets House, under the watchful eye and cruel hand of Mrs. Axton.
Spirited and bright, Anya makes friends and some enemies too. Will she survive and find a loving place to belong again or will this life of drudgery be forever?
Land of the Nurogons by Aiyven Mbawa
I, Hayden Smith, never considered myself to be the ‘chosen one’. I thought I was your average high school kid. But, no, of course I was completely wrong. And I have a sneaking suspicion that however much I tried to avoid my fate, I’d end up in the same place, Nurogonia.
And now a bloke called Sosiri plans to turn the world of Nurogonia into something unimaginable. If he succeeds, we’re all dead. It’s my problem to prevent that. All those deaths would be on my hands. And if I fail? Oh, never mind, I won’t be alive to find out. Middle-grade Fantasy adventure fans will love this!
OUR JOURNEY. OUR COMMUNITY. OUR HIGHLIGHTS.
OUR JOURNEY
From March 2019 when the book reviews started, there's been a steady growth in our social media following telling of the need for literacy promotion & book recommendations.
The book reviews now happen monthly on Facebook, YouTube & Linkedin and where possible the author(s) whose books have been featured in that month's subscription box will be invited for a Live Author Interview . Check out the blog for updates.
OUR COMMUNITY
Support for the book reviews, our recently published books & upcoming subscription box has been phenomenal. For that, we cannot say enough thanks.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments about literacy promotion for children and we will do our best to help. If you have any particularly interesting books you want us to review/have in the box please do not hesitate to let us know. Lets create a community of readers!
OUR HIGHLIGHTS
Without a doubt, the highlight of this year has been our BBC Look East TV appearance back in June when we were interviewed about our recently published novels. Since then, we have also featured on BBC Three Counties Radio, The WeekJnr Magazine & a number of blogs.
Charity really did begin at home for us with the Northampton Chronicle & Echo featuring us for World Book Day 2020 during the height of our Kickstarter campaign! We remain always grateful for the support we have received.
See what our fans think of our reviews
Meet the Team
In addition to the amazing community of supporters, there's no way all of this could have done without the help of our wider family but most especially our parents. So here's the team behind Mbawa Books. Mum & Dad both work as freelance IT Consultants & have been an immense source of support throughout the process of building our literacy brand. From camera man/woman, proof reader, not to mention cook, cleaner, driver and parent you name it, they've been it.
Kaitlyn our little sister, has been an inspiration in the the way she fearlessly takes up space and doesn't shy away from expressing herself! She is a supercharged bundle of fun and we love her so. For sure, before long, she'll have her own books out too.
What's Next?
The launch of a book subscription box for tweens in October 2020 is very exciting indeed. We can't wait to share with you what's in store for the fantastic community of readers this is going to be. So, for all you 8-14 year old bookworms, watch this space😍
As for writing, with homage to historical fiction out of the way, Kirsten plans to throw the boundaries of time and place to the wind by writing dystopian fiction for her next book. Will Land Of The Nurogons become a series for Aiyven? Who knows. Watch the space after the publication of Aiyven's next book, possibly a short story collection.
