Crowned with Curls by Delisa

Delisaof La Mirada's entry into Varsity Tutor's June 2014 scholarship contest

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Delisa of La Mirada, CA
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Crowned with Curls by Delisa - June 2014 Scholarship Essay

Dimonah is a young girl who is faced with the dilemma that almost every black girl has dealt with in her childhood: hair. Instead of wanting her hair to be straight in order to be considered pretty by her peers, she will proudly wear her mane. Her personality comes through in the different hairstyles she creates daily. She will not even consider the thought of wanting or needing to straighten her hair, and will not be persuaded by her fellow classmates and friends to do so.

Each chapter revolves around a day of the week, Dimonah will have a very interesting case of the Mondays, or Moon-days as her younger brother calls it. Every other Tuesday is wash night, where she is conflicted as to whether or not she wants to have her closest friends over before or after she washes her tangled mane. Dimonah has never minded the stares and whispers from those who don’t have the fortune of being “crowned with curls” as her father says.

There have been books written on African American hair, but they have been focused on the hurt behind the pressure to conform, or how to maintain our hair. I want to focus on a young girl who grows up in a healthy and encouraging environment where she is comfortable in her skin and truly loves her hair. She will be precocious and yet compassionate towards those who are being told they don’t have “good hair,” and will face real life situations with her friends.

The book would be aimed towards the age groups 12-17 and be approximately 125-165 pages. There will not be any pictures, except for the front cover. I want the readers to fully engage their imaginations while reading and would even encourage them to draw their own picture of Dimonah and her locks. The name of the book will be “Crowned with Curls.”

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