LaWayne Williams 
High School Diva 

Samantha Ricks, a tomboy by heart, could easily change her social status in school and live out the dreams of most teenage girls of being popular and pretty. To do so, she will have to pay the ultimate price that many of the women in her family have done before her. Samantha tries to stay true to herself, but the pitfalls (poverty, negative peer pressure, abuse, and teen pregnancy) of inner-city life begin to take a stranglehold on her, which causes her to spin out of control. It may take her no nonsense grandmother, Momma Ricks, who seems to be at the root of Samanthas pain and sorrow, to keep Samantha focused on her goal of getting into college.

Circa l’autore

La Wayne Williams was born and raised in Camden, NJ where he was the oldest child of five siblings. Many would say that La Wayne resisted societal beliefs that inner-city youth will be affiliated with a gang, be incarcerated, or deceased by age of twenty-five. Life for La Wayne could have been easily written for him and ended tragically, but instead, by the age of ten, he found the power of a creative mind and a mighty ballpoint pen. At the age of fifteen, La Wayne began to chart his own destiny despite the negative societal influences that threatened his future. Tours to local colleges and the medias glimpse of what college had to offer, led La Wayne to set his sights on becoming the first of his family to graduate from college. La Wayne completed his undergraduate studies at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, NJ and his graduate coursework at Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ. He has dedicated seventeen years to education and is currently an elementary school assistant principal. La Wayne resides in New Jersey with his wife and two sons. In the book, High School Diva, La Wayne uses personal experiences to cleverly create a fictional world of a young student. He gives the reader the a glimpse of an inquisitive middle school aged girl who is subjected to community and family perils that will have life threatening implications.