Virginia A. Monger and I, Prescella L. Monger, created and published the first Nia's Sick Sense book back in 2015. The inspiration for the series came from some of our own life experiences growing up in Brooklyn, New York. We decided to create a mini young adult sci-fi book series infused with folktale and pop culture while tapping into today's issues revolving around The Me-Too Movement.

The book centers around Nia Kpelle, a teenage girl, who is just starting her freshmen year of high school. Mirroring after our own upbringing, Nia is from Brooklyn, New York with family roots in Liberia, Africa. She develops the sense of foresight tapping into the thoughts and recollections of young women who have been abused. The reason why we called it “sick sense” is because she can feel the emotional pain they go through, and it leaves her feeling physically ill and mentally drained from it all.
 

We believe that readers will enjoy our story because Nia is someone they could identify with, as well as, relate to her struggles and those of the people around her. Virginia and I also felt that it was important to write a story that would encourage young black girls to love themselves, embrace their heritage, and value sisterhood and true friendship while feeling empowered and beautiful, and not fearing their sexuality but embracing it.
 

During the process of creating Nia’s Sick Sense, we were fortunate to work with three amazing young black female artists which also allowed us to shine a light on other talented black women in the arts. Ashley Alcime, from Brooklyn, illustrated the first book. Chelsey L. Thomas, from Atlanta, illustrated the second book. Hollinda Tudor, from New Jersey, illustrated the third book. Each young lady brought their own artistic flavor to Nia’s Sick Sense, and it was truly an incredible experience working with each of them as they helped us to bring our books to life through their captivating illustrations. The books were also edited by two talented women: Margaret Diehl (Book 1 & Book 3) and Natasha Handy-Green (Book 2).

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Nia's Sick Sense is a part of Kpelle Tales™, a compilation of stories about our main character and shero, Nia Kpelle.
 

My loving sister and creative half, Virginia, passed away in August 2020 at age 35, but her story will live on forever and continue to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest and chase after their dreams.