"Often you see a lot of stories that are mostly either fully about immigrant children or fully about non-South Asian children. So this was one of the stories that is about Indo-Canadian children, South Asians who grew up like us and they could actually relate to us."- T.K.Sohal-Author of Twin Adventures.
The official children's book launch of Twin Adventures was a massive success with an excellent turnout at Surrey City Hall on Sunday, August 7, 2022.
Twin Adventures is about a set of Canadian-born South Asian twins who are in for a surprise when a new set of twins immigrate from India. The twins discover things about themselves unexpectedly, especially that kindness, understanding, and collaboration can go a long way. The book is authored by T.K.Sohal and Ms.Raman Kaur.
T.K. Sohal completed her Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University, Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Sydney, Australia, and Juris Doctor (JD) from Bond University in Australia. T.K. Sohal is a lawyer with a background in public health. T.K. Sohal has attended several writing programs, including Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio and the Southbank Writer’s Program. T.K. Sohal also completed a Writer in Residency in Varuna: The Writer’s House in New South Wales, Australia, and a Writing for Animation program at the Vancouver Animation School. T.K. Sohal attended several writing conferences in Canada and Australia. T.K. Sohal contributed a short story called “A Memorable Birthday” in Emerge 15, which the Writer’s Studio Anthology published.
The inspiration behind this book Sohal says is creating awareness regarding representation, "Often you see a lot of stories that are mostly either fully about immigrant children or fully about non-South Asian children. So this was one of the stories that is about Indo-Canadian children, South Asians who grew up like us and they could actually relate to us".
Ms. Raman Kaur completed her teaching degree in 2015 at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. She has since upgraded and received her Graduate Diploma at the same university. Since she was 7 years old, she had dreams of becoming a teacher. While growing up, her grade 3 teacher is the one who truly inspired Ms. Raman Kaur to become a teacher. They played a significant role in her life, which is why she strongly values teaching and wakes up every morning with joy because she likes to inspire young eager minds.
Kaur says the main message is about inclusivity and valuing every child's potential "Everyone has something to offer, there is no reason to be jumping to conclusions. We also talk about a culture of food in the book and being able to accept that".
The supporters of the book launch included Verka Foods who provided gifts to all attendees, Rotary Club of Surrey (Lal Baniya (President) and Dave Hayer), Surrey Public Libraries (Twin Adventures is available in the catalog), Aziz Ladha for the DJ services.
Queen Elizabeth Secondary School bhangra team performed at the book launch. Family and friends were also present.
The book is available online at Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Amazon.com.au, Amazon.co.uk, or Amazon.in.