Celebrating potential: Laetitia & The Awesome Superheroes
Young Adult
By Sarah Paterson-Hamlin
If you’ve been to a Christmas market in the Hibiscus Coast recently, you might have come across Laetitia Tan, the 19-year-old author of The Awesome Superheroes. Laetitia attends Carmel College in Milford and lives with her parents and big brother Nathanael. Although her favourite subjects are tourism and science, she also has a penchant for story-telling. This is what inspired her family and speech therapist to work with her on a book about one of her favourite topics – superheroes! “It happened because I always have a problem with my grammar, punctuation and spelling, so the speech therapist helped me to practice. Because I have Down syndrome, every time I learn something new, I learn very slowly, but if I know why I’m doing it, I learn fast and I know what to do,” Laetitia says. Laetitia’s passion for superheroes and storytelling meant that the project was a great way for her to explore her interests whilst developing her language skills at the same time. In our zoom meeting, she was flanked by a background of Iron Man, Black Widow, and Captain America, all lending her inspiration. When asked why she wanted to write a book about superheroes, Laetitia said, “I want to inspire many people about what they need to learn. Kids can read it and learn to be heroes and why they need to be heroes – to make the world a better place.” But it’s not just about the readers themselves finding inspiration within. Laetitia also wants us to see the heroic qualities in those around us – even when it might not be too obvious. “The most important part of the Awesome Superheroes is that kids need to try to believe in heroes. You can be a hero, but everyone can also be a hero if they want to.” Laetitia’s Mum, Valentina agrees. “Our purpose is really about advocacy, celebrating diversity, celebrating potential.”
This purpose is why the book comes at such a low price, despite the high quality of the publication. It is available for only $15 via the Awesome Superheroes Facebook page, at local markets, and from Never Ending Books in Orewa. It’s been a two-year journey from concept to publication, with many different steps in between. Laetitia explains: “It’s self-published. After I wrote the story there was the editor, then we put all the illustrations and words of the script in order, then the graphic designer, then the printer.” And now the team are going through the process once more, as they prepare a Christmas sequel for release in time for the 2022 festive season. Meanwhile, around 400 copies of the original have been sold all over the world, in addition to the 100 copies given away to friends and whānau, local libraries, local schools, and other supporters. “We’ve had orders from people in the UK, US, Ireland, Malaysia…” says Valentina. “It’s really cool. One of the first markets we did, this gentleman bought if for his grandchild in France and wanted to take a photo with Laetitia to prove he’d met the author. It’s so amazing to hear the book will be making it to France!” L a e t i t i a a n d h e r M u m wo u l d b o t h recommend story writing to anyone struggling with language – especially if it’s on a subject that you love. Laetitia says, “a story is not a thing you write, it comes from inside you, and can inspire other people to your imagination and power.”
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