Rutendo Shadaya, who wrote a series of children’s fantasy books featuring strong female leads, has been recognised along with nine other girls
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hen New Zealand teenager Rutendo Shadaya was nine years old, she wanted to create the perfect birthday present for her best friend – an act of kindness that has helped land her on the front of Time magazine.
“I was very good with gift giving, and I knew she liked reading … so I was like ‘Why don’t I write a book for her?’” Shadaya tells the Guardian.
Two months later she had her fantasy novella, Rachel and the Enchanted Forest, in her hands, and, despite having previously “despised” writing, had enjoyed the process so much she wanted to push it further.
