She has been in love with writing since she was a child.
Her affair with words resonates with teens and adult readers.
The stories she is privileged to tell are mixed with little humor and life lessons.
Whitaker is from New Jersey and is the only child of two parents as she describes, ‘have been together forever.’ She earned a degree in English from Kean University and has taken additional coursework in African-American History, Creative Writing and Fiction Writing. Whitaker takes her work as a teen author seriously and understands the impact that she can make on their lives. She believe that the art of simplicity is the skill that an author has to hone in on and master. Whitaker credits ‘The Color Purple,’ by Alice Walker and ‘Jazz,’ by Toni Morrison as excellent examples examples of this skill that she tries to emulate in her books.
Her work with teens as a social worker was also a catalyst in jumpstarting her career for writing for teens. She wrote her first teen novel, ‘Shorty Like Mine,’ in two weeks. She loved the story and ten books later is now hooked on writing for teens. One of Whitaker’s strengths as a writer is her ability to observe the challenges teens are faced with today and incorporate it into her stories. Her new series, the ‘Throwback Diaries,’ accurately describes what happens in the lives of second generation adults affected by the crack epidemic within the African-American community. As Whitaker describes, this series will take the reader on a journey with teenagers who have nothing, no stable homelife, poor family life, and little guidance from parents/grandparents who have personal issues.
- Teens are living in poverty and it affects their view of themselves and the world
- Drug use, not just for themselves, generational use i.e. grandparents, parents etc.
- Teens today suffer from not understanding their rich history as a people
Whitaker’s Facebook fan page is her favorite social media site to use when promoting her books and interacting with fans. Some of her most memorable responses/comments from teens are:
- Can we hang out?
- (After the kids see her picture on social media) OMG….I didn’t know you were that old!
- Can you write a book with me?
- This story is MY life!
Check out her books today!
