2014 Funny Women Awards finalist Samantha Baines is writing her debut children’s book about a girl who wears a hearing aid. Oh yeah, and her family secretly work for an intergalactic agency. Aimed at readers aged eight and older, the book will be released on 3rd October by Knights Of, a publisher whose goal is to promote more inclusive titles.
When our heroine Harriet finds out about her family secret, she discovers her hearing aid helps her understand all any alien language from across the universe.
Baines, who wears a hearing aid too and is an ambassador for Action on Hearing Loss and the British Tinnitus Association said: “When I was younger I always wanted to be an inter-galactic adventurer, alas they didn’t teach space flight at my school – but now we can all live our space hero dreams through Harriet!
“I realised when I got my hearing aid that I had personally never read a book, or seen a film, where the lead character has hearing loss. I am delighted to be working with Knights Of, who champion diversity and have a passion for helping to tell interesting stories from different perspectives.”
Publisher David Stevens added: “Funny, direct and honest, with her unstoppable energy there is no one better to bring hearing aid representation to kids books than Sam Baines. We are thrilled to be working with and can’t wait for the world to join us on the maddest adventure.”
Baines self-published a book of humorous poems, Poentry in 2017.