Eva's Story (Eva Wong Nava)

   

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 -- 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐞! 

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. 

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲-𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 -- 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 - 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐬 - 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 -- 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐝.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐦 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝟕𝟎% 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐛𝐲 Inspiring Girls International, 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐳 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐳.

I was inspired by Lorraine Lee, CIPP/E to share my story with you.

#inspiringgirls #inspiringothers #inspiringwomen

 

Eva Wong Nava was born on a tropical island where a merlion spurts water. Her ancestors braved monsoon winds sailing to British Malaya to plant roots in Southeast Asia. When the winds changed, they sailed again and found another home somewhere in the western hemisphere. She combines degrees in literature and art history and writes stories that explore identity, culture, and belonging. Eva has written an award-winning middle-grade novel and several picturebooks focussing on special educational needs. Her debut YA historical novel is published by Penguin Random House SEA, and she has forthcoming picture book biographies on artists in Southeast Asia. In the United Kingdom, she has forthcoming books with Scholastic UK and Walker Books, and with Candlewick Press in the U.S.A. Eva lives in London with her family, two scampering squirrels, and a regal fox. [141]

 

You can find out more about her here.

https://evawongnava.com

 

Editor's Note:  

I don't claim to know much about women. But women writer's I know something about. Eva in my opinion continues to change the world for the better with her writing. The mere mention of mental illness was unheard in the Asian world not even twenty years ago. And when I read  "Open: A Boy's Wayang Adventure" I was astounded and impressed. I wrote a review. I read it to my two young boys. What Eva Wang Nava has done for the world regarding this issue as well as being an Asian and a Woman is morally and artistically encouraging that the written word has a major place in our lives and can indeed change the world. I am humbled to know her and call her a friend. I am proud to be a writer because Eva is writer.