BRIGHT FUTURES — West Orange mother and daughter co-author “Pink Tea;” check out the details

Published 12:28 am Thursday, March 10, 2022

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12-year-old seventh grade honor student Sania Boykin, along with her mother Latitta Waggoner, co-authored “Pink Tea,” a realistic fiction novel about four friends earning and saving money to purchase the best birthday gift.

“They (the characters) ended up trying to figure out ways to make extra money because they want to use their own money to buy (the gift) because they’re getting a little older (and) they want to spend their own money,” Waggoner said.

“So, they got together and started earning money, and they ended up earning so much money that they had enough to not only buy a gift, but throw their own surprise party.”

Waggoner said the surprise party came at the form of a pink tea party, because Boykin’s favorite color was pink.

Waggoner owns and operates her own publishing company, Sweet T’s Playhouse, and has published books under pen name Sweet T, such as “Shawna’s Circle of Friends.”

“Pink Tea” came from a desire to write a book with her daughter, a West Orange Stark Middle School student.

“I’ve already written other books, Waggoner said. “I’ve been writing for a while and I had wanted to write a book with her. We just discussed it and I asked her one day like, ‘Hey, do you want to write a book together?’ And she told me, ‘yes.’ And I asked her what would she want to write about and we included our friends’ names and just went from there.”

Waggoner said since Boykin was 9 at the time, she wanted the book also be something Boykin’s age group would be excited about.

Waggoner said she took over when they first started writing but eventually started working as partners.

Waggoner wants to set her children up for success and let them know that they can make their own money.

“Being their own boss is the ultimate goal,” she said.

Boykin said, despite her age, she knows she can do anything she wants and works for.

She is on the track team at West Orange Stark Middle School and aspires to be a teacher or cosmetologist.

“(Writing the book) shows no matter how old you are, you can still accomplish things,” Boykin said.

“Pink Tea” is available on amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

You can also find Sweet T’s Playhouse, Waggoner’s publishing company, at facebook.com/SweetTsPlayhouse.

— By Tim Cohrs. He can be reached at tim.cohrs@orangeleader.com