Sugar Town Queens

Malla Nunn was born and raised in Swaziland. Her adult crime books have earned her two Edgar nominations and a RUSA Award for Best Mystery Novel. Her first young adult novel, When the Ground is Hard, won the L.A. Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and the Josette Frank Award for Children's Literature.

After earning a master's degree in Theatre Studies, she dabbled in acting in New York City, worked as a cocktail waitress, a nanny, a bookseller, and on film sets, but never at the same time. She also made short films and an award-winning documentary, Servant of the Ancestors, before surrendering to her passion: writing books.

She married in a traditional Swazi ceremony. Her bride price was eighteen cows.

From Los Angeles Times Book Prize Award winner and Edgar Award nominee Malla Nunn comes a stunning portrait of a family divided and a powerful story of how friendship saves and heals.

When Amandla wakes up on her fifteenth birthday, she knows it's going to be one of her mother's difficult days. Her mother has had another vision. This one involves Amandla wearing a bedsheet loosely stitched as a dress. An outfit, her mother says, is certain to bring Amandla's father back home, as if he were the prince and this was the fairytale ending their family was destined for. But in truth, Amandla's father has long been gone--since before Amandla was born--and even her mother's memory of him is hazy. In fact, many of her mother's memories from before Amandla was born are hazy. It's just one of the many reasons people in Sugar Town give them strange looks--that and the fact her mother is white and Amandla is Black.

When Amandla finds a mysterious address in the bottom of her mother's handbag along with a large amount of cash, she decides it's finally time to get answers about her mother's life. What she discovers will change the shape and size of her family forever. But with her best friends at her side, Amandla is ready to take on family secrets and the devil himself. These Sugar Town queens are ready to take over the world to expose the hard truths of their lives.

AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR: Malla's first YA novel, When the Ground Is Hard recently won the LA Times Book Prize and the Josette Frank Award. In her latest novel, Malla has paired her gorgeous, award-winning, and atmospheric writing with a captivating family drama and mystery that will leave readers spellbound.FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON RACE AND CLASS: Set in Sugar Town, a shanty town outside Durban, South Africa, the novel delves deep into the racial and class tensions that exist both within Sugar Town proper and outside its borders. Amandla is biracial and Malla expertly teases out the racial tensions and complexities that exist in her life.HIDDEN FAMILY HISTORY: Readers will be captivated as they try to piece together the truth behind what happened to Annalisa all those years ago and the truth behind Amandla's father's disappearance. Malla has woven the family drama, the secrets, and the lies into a positively delectable tale of love, family, and community.STRONG FEMALE ICONS: This is a story about strong women and the generational strength of women who sustain and maintain their families and communities. These are the Sugar Town Queens.