Inspirational student, 17, has first novel published

By Jacob Kemp, 17

An inspirational student has her her first novel published – with lots more books lined up.

Samara, 17, of The King Alfred Academy Sixth Form, has written The Other Side, a 502-page novel that is published on Amazon.

The novel, aimed at a Young Adult audience, explores themes of family, love, academic pressures and heartbreak.

Crucially, the book aims to challenge the perception that the lives of celebrities are consistently as perfect as their public image seems to suggest.

Superb student active across the Sixth Form

Samara is an active part of TKASA Sixth Form in a variety of ways. She is also part of the Jill Dando News team, writing dozens of news stories for the Media. 

She has also interviewed successful authors and the BBC’s Fiona Bruce.

Samara said: “In a society integrated with social media, celebrity life is always portrayed through a perfectionist lens, as they only share the best parts of their life to the external world. 

“I wanted to write a novel that explored this from an alternative angle, challenging the perception that celebrities lives are consistently what we perceive them to be – that just because they are famous doesn’t necessarily mean that their lives are perfect as we believe.”

She added: “As the author, the main message of the novel is to look after those around you, whether that would be family, friends, or peers, because no-one knows what life can throw at you from day to day.

“In the future, I intend to develop their story into a quartet, and also publish these through Amazon.”

Hard-working, enthusiastic and huge talent

Head of Sixth Form Jonathan Gaskell said: “This is yet another remarkable achievement by Samara. She is hard-working, enthusiastic and has huge talent.”

The TKASA sixth form is part of The Priory Learning Trust and is one of Britain’s best.

Due to it success, in the last two years the numbers studying at the Sixth Form has grown by over 100% with a 100% exam pass rate, and with 80% going to Russell Group Universities.

This year, three students are heading off to study at Cambridge and Oxford universities. 

The Sixth Form has benefitted from significant investment since joining TPLT and the facilities for students are outstanding. 

Anyone looking to study A-levels in a high performing Sixth Form is encouraged to take a look at the  website https://www.tkasa.org.uk and to make contact with Mr Gaskell via email jgaskell@tkasa.org.uk 

The book is available here

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