In Anita Nahta Amin’s new middle-grade series, readers meet Reeya Rai, an adventurous inventor who loves creating new devices to help her archaeologist parents. In each stand-alone story, Reeya and her family, friends, and trusty robot, Tink, go on a new adventure to track down ancient artifacts. Wherever they go, Reeya and her family follow their Hindu culture and beliefs to help preserve history and help others. Unfortunately, her parents’ rival, Dr. Acker, and his daughter, Elsie, often show up to cause trouble.

Inspired by actual archaeological and historical sites, the Reeya Rai series is filled with exciting adventures that will inspire readers to keep turning the pages until the end, where they can learn to build their own inventions at home.

We were lucky enough to sit down with Anita to ask her a few questions about her new series and how she skillfully weaves science, history, and culture into these exciting stories.

 

Wow, this series really has it all! Adventure, travel, STEM, history, strong female lead. Tell us about Reeya Rai and the inspiration behind the character and series?

Capstone invited me to write a chapter book series featuring a Hindu kid inventor. For the main character, I kept imagining a girl with glasses—like me as a child but also a cross of my twin children. My daughter is fun-loving and adventurous. My son loves to tinker and experiment, and he also wears glasses.

I love having adventures (though not quite as daring as Reeya’s!) and grew up watching the Indiana Jones movies and the TV show MacGyver—a show where the hero uses everyday objects to solve a problem. Reeya was born as a cross of the two. She’s the heroine who goes on daring archaeological adventures and uses everyday materials to invent a solution that saves the day. After reading about all of the Indian artifacts that have been lost over time, I just knew Reeya would want to track them down in her stories.

 

Talk about your background in STEM and how that informs how you approach Reeya’s character and stories?

Science has always played a big role in my life. My father was a chemist, and my mother was a computer scientist. They really fostered curiosity and experimentation. Even one of my favorite teachers (my first grade teacher) would smile and introduce me as the girl who always asks why.

It felt natural that I ended up pursuing a career in science. I graduated from college with a BSE in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. Later, I got my Master’s degree in Computer Engineering. In graduate school, I also studied Molecular Genetics for two years. Then I worked in business consulting and information technology for a number of years.

Early on especially, it was daunting to see that I was just one of a few women of color in my fields. It was important to me to portray Reeya as someone who is passionate about STEM and is ultimately successful at it—especially since women are still underrepresented in some areas of STEM. Maybe Reeya’s inventions don’t work at first, but she and her friend Finlay keep trying.

STEM covers a wide range of fields too, and I wanted readers to see this. While Reeya uses a lot of physics and mechanical engineering skills, her friend Finlay is a technical wizard who loves computer science and electrical engineering. Reeya Rai and the Emerald Glasses includes some genetics, and geology is represented in Reeya Rai and the Legendary Cup. I’ve tried to showcase some of the technical advances in archaeology through Reeya’s and Finlay’s parents, who are archaeologists. I hope readers will take away that there are a lot of STEM fields to choose from, and the reader doesn’t need to feel limited to just one.

 

You’ve done a lot of research for these books. What is your process and how you decide on the inventions in the back matter?

I had so much fun learning about the history of the spice routes and Silk Road. I actually found a new hobby through writing this series—archaeology! I was amazed by how connected the world was, even thousands of years ago, through trade. There were even inns along the market routes in different countries! I really wanted to showcase this ancient global exchange.

For these books, I usually started with a missing Indian artifact that I had heard about or read about. Some of these were from legends that could plausibly be true, such as King Bhoja’s mechanical garden in Reeya Rai and the Secret Workshop. And some are documented missing treasures such as the Florentine Diamond in Reeya Rai and the Ivory Peacock.

Through online archives, magazines, and encyclopedias, I was able to learn where the artifact was last seen and the history of that country at that time and afterwards. Then I just started brainstorming! I did have to create a backstory for each artifact to understand how it could have ended up where Reeya and Finlay eventually discover it.

Once I knew where the story was taking place and the backstory, I was able to identify the problem that Reeya and Finlay would need to solve, and the invention materialized out of that need.

 

Which of Reeya’s inventions would help you most in your everyday life?

My kids and I leave secret coded messages for each other sometimes, so the color wheel in Reeya Rai and the Secret Workshop has come in handy!

 

How important was it to weave Reeya’s Hindu culture and beliefs into the stories?

Hindu culture is a part of Reeya, so it was very important to include this in the story. These customs drive her values, including kindness, doing the right thing, and family closeness.

Reeya is Indian American like me. Growing up as a second generation Indian American, I sometimes felt like I had to hide my Indian heritage in order to fit in. I want children to feel proud of who they are and embrace their customs—not hide them. It was important to show that Reeya is proud of who she is and of her family. She doesn’t try to hide her Indian heritage in any way. She doesn’t know everything about Hindu and Indian customs, but she wants to learn more and share with others. She also loves learning about other cultures. She loves living in a multicultural world—just like I do!

 

Reeya and her family travel to many places in the stories. Are any inspired by your own adventures? Or are any on your wish list?

Yes, exploring new places and learning about new cultures is one of my passions! I do often sprinkle memories in my books. Sometimes, it’s a memory about food like orange bread in Santorini, Greece. It’s scrumptious, and my husband and I had it for breakfast every morning. I ended up building a scene around it in Reeya Rai and the Secret Workshop. Sometimes it’s a memorable activity like a stroll along the Seine River or the outdoor art market in Montmartre in Paris. I included these in Reeya Rai and the Emerald Glasses. The soccer scene in Reeya Rai and the Ivory Peacock was inspired by a trip with my husband to Ravello, Italy, where we often saw children playing soccer in the main square. Now that our twins are 13, we have to go back there for another visit, so they can play too!

Reeya Rai and the King’s Treasure is the first book I wrote in the series. Out of all the books, it’s the most personal to me because it’s set in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India, where my father’s family is from and where I spent many summer and winter vacations. We were always dodging cows, exploring the sandy alleyways and my grandparents’ haveli (home—it was adorned with beautiful old murals of kings and queens). Water was scarce and came from a well a few miles away. Despite harsh conditions, the Thar Desert is vibrant with life and color, and I tried to reflect this beauty in the book.

I have a huge wish list of places I want to visit, and some of these inspired the remaining books. I dream of riding in a hot air balloon over the fairy chimneys in Turkey (Reeya Rai and the Legendary Cup), sailing down the Nile in Egypt (Reeya Rai and the Lost Library), seeing lemurs in Madagascar (Reeya Rai and the Lost Pirate City), and climbing the dunes of the Skeleton Coast in Namibia (Reeya Rai and the Fiery Cross of Goa). One day!

 

Anything else you’d like to add?

Just a Thank You for reading this and learning more about Reeya and her friends and family! I love sharing her stories with readers!

 

About the Author
Anita Nahta Amin is a second generation Indian American and former information technology manager. She is the author of several fiction and nonfiction children’s books. Her notebook is one of her most prized possessions, and she is always writing ideas in it.

 

Browse the Reeya Rai Series

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