Tarreka GarnettAbout the Author Tarreka Garnett, author of: The Sleepover, Rising Phoenix- Controlling the Flames, Cooling the Embers, and Rising from the Ashes, and Melanites-The Origin, was born and raised in Miami, Florida. After graduating from Florida A&M Univrsity, with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, she went on to become an educator in Tampa, Florida. For the last 14 years she has dedicated her life to advocating for and educating students in high poverty areas of Hillsborough, County. As an educator she noticed that of all the origin stories she's read to her students, there wasn't a story that told children about the melanin in their skin. Tarreka wrote Melanites-The Origin because she believed that it is important for children of color to know why they have melanin in their skin and to see the beauty of that melanin. Read More Read Less