Nia AliNia Ali has been an English teacher for nearly 20 years. She has served in underprivileged communities, transforming students into leaders, inspiring hope, impacting the community, and changing the world. Nia holds a bachelor's degree in Creative Wriing with a minor in African-American studies from the University of Arizona. She obtained her master's degree in Educational Leadership from Arizona State University graduating at the top of her class. As a high school teacher, Nia witnessed many of the disparities in regards to marginalized students. Often, she advocated on their behalf for equity in education. In addition, she noticed another startling disproportion. Many students of color, regularly failed the end of course national assessments. Analyzing the data, Nia determined one main factor that significantly contributed to the deficit in the educational gap; and that was reading. So she set off to create a solution for students and families and started her very own private school, Vision Leadership Academy. In an effort to help students master reading fluency and comprehension, Nia created a series of books, Sasha and Tasha, to bridge the achievement gap. Each story focuses on a particular sound building reading skill-set with phonemic awareness. Within the text, students are given Word Builder Lists that provide the word blends and word families that make the featured sound. These lists provide practice and repetition of sound. The words within these lists are also intermingled within the text, creating a familiarity of sound and practice to students. Therefore, students read with confidence, fluency, and comprehension. Each story is unique, highlighting African-American culture and traditions and also teaches students a valuable lesson. You may follow Nia Ali's official author's page http: //facebook.com/niaaliauthor or http: //instagram.com/niaaliauthor for reading tips. Make sure you check out her two latest books available on Amazon: Sasha and Tasha: Peach Cobbler Pie in July (long /ī/ sound) https: //amzn.to/33ksVqf Sasha and Tasha: Chore to Mr. Morton's Corner Store (/or/ sound) https: //amzn.to/2UHDq22 Nia is soon to release her third book, Sasha and Tasha: Mistake of the Grey Cape (long /ā/ sound) at the end of this year. Nia continues to write to provide supplemental material for parents and teachers to bridge the achievement gap and help students master the skill of reading. She is a native of Phoenix, Arizona, where she resides with her two young children. Read More Read Less