WOOD RIVER - Amoriah Gray is only 7 years old, but she has already kicked off her career as an author with her first book, “Amoriah’s Magic Afro Puffs.” The book is about girls like Amoriah learning to love their natural hair has been well-received at book signing events thus far, with another one planned in the near future.

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One day last semester, Amoriah came home and asked her mother, Angela, why her hair isn’t straight - Amoriah had a friend at school with straight hair and wanted hers to look the same. This sparked the conversation about natural hair which her first book is based on.

“She asked why her hair wasn’t straight like that, and I explained to her that she has curly hair … we talked about natural hair and we ordered books off Amazon about loving your natural hair and loving who you are, and we talked about all of that,” Angela said.

Amoriah’s mother Angela said her daughter, now in first grade, has been writing since kindergarten. The idea for this book came one day after Angela had just finished doing Amoriah’s hair.

“We started talking about writing a book, and I asked her what she wanted to write about. I had just done her hair in her afro puffs, and she said, ‘What if I wrote it about my afro puffs?,’” Angela said. “I said ‘describe them to me.’ She said ‘big, round and fluffy,’ and that’s in the book.

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“Then I asked her, ‘What are some of the things you want to do with your afro puffs?’ and that’s when she started telling me she would go to the playground and go to school and go to cheer practice and gymnastics … ‘and I even snuggle at night with my afro puffs.’”

These descriptions, which form the book’s content, are from Amoriah herself - her mother helped put these descriptions into book form and launched a website for the book where you can watch a video trailer and order the book online.

Angela said Amoirah’s book was well-received at a book signing event she held last month in Wood River, and at a similar event that was held last Monday at the Humboldt Academy of Higher Learning in Soulard.

“They welcomed her, they purchased 50 of her books and they had a huge book signing for her,” Angela said of the Humboldt Academy of Higher Learning. “She signed about 25 books. It was for the After School program, and it was great. They received her so well.”

Angela said Amoriah will hold another book signing event on the last day of school at her local elementary school. Stay tuned to Riverbender.com for more on that event as this story develops.

To learn more about “Amoriah’s Magic Afro Puffs” or order the book online, visit amoriahlove.com. You can also order the paperback or Kindle eBook versions on Amazon.

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