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Book details
  • Genre:YOUNG ADULT FICTION
  • SubGenre:Short Stories, Collections & Anthologies
  • Age Range (years):13 and up
  • Language:English
  • Pages:123
  • eBook ISBN:9781620953242

Taira the Termite Queen

by Donald Wilson

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Overview
In the beautiful, majestic land of the African Savanna, lives Princess Taira. As sole heir to the throne of the Uranic Termite Colony, Taira is being groomed to become the next queen. There is only one problem though; Taira feels she is not ready to assume her position as queen. She would much rather be living out her dream of traveling and exploring the beautiful land in which she lives. But tragedy strikes and the time for Taira to take leadership arrive sooner than anyone can imagine. New construction and development by humans destroys Taira’s home and sadly takes her mother’s life. With the last dying wish of her mother the queen, Taira embarks on a journey to find a new home for what is left of her colony. Along her journey, Taira meets a cast of vibrant characters who join together with her in her search. But watch out, danger lurks behind ever blade of grass within this beautiful African landscape. Will Taira and her band of misfits be successful in finding a new home for the colony…find out this and more in the adventures you will find in the pages of TAIRA the Termite Queen.
Description
In the beautiful majestic land of Africa lives Princess Taira. She is the heir to the throne of the Uranic Colony, a termite colony buried deep in African Savanna . There is only one problem. Taira feels she is not ready to assume her position as Queen of the Uranic Colony. She would rather live out her dream of traveling and exploring the beautiful land in which she lives instead of being confined inside the safety of the inner walls of her castle. Taira’s mother is currently the reigning Queen but is desperately trying to groom Taira for the day she will become queen. She is constantly met with Taira’s resistance and free spirit, something she knows Taira inherited from her father Troytaira. The time for Taira to take leadership comes faster than anyone can imagine. New construction and development by humans destroys Taira’s home and sadly takes her mother’s life. All that is left of the Uranic Colony is a band of termites including Medesser, who is the eldest termite in the colony. With the last dying wish of her mother, Taira must set out to find a new home for what is left of her colony. Unsure of her leadership abilities; Taira readily hands over the leadership reigns to Medesser who is all too happy to take them. The group starts their journey by seeking out Cedric the Wise, a centipede who is the oldest and wisest in the land. The Queen Mother consulted often with Cedric wisdom and compassion in order to lead her own. Along the way, the group meets Robbie, a roly-poly insect who is the life of the party. Robbie doesn’t have a permanent home, so when Taira extends the offer for him to travel with them it makes Robbie extremely happy to take the journey. He is doubly happy when he sets eyes on Taira’s best friend Tina, who he instantly falls in love with. Unfortunately, Tina doesn’t feel the same way about Robbie. She finds him generally irritating and obnoxious. Robbie won’t give up that easy, though. His new goal is to make Tina fall head over heels for him. Taira’s journey to Cedric proves to be none too easy. Taira and her group have their first encounter with Marc Anthony a fire ant who is determined to be the sole ruler over all the insects in Africa. Marc Anthony, a conceited and somewhat paranoid leader, destroys all insect colonies in his path. He would have destroyed Taira’s home if the humans had not gotten to it first. Taira uses her instincts to avoid the first confrontation with Marc Anthony. Medesser believes that they should have gone with Marc Anthony in order to have a safe home, so she is angry that Taira decided to avoid him. After all, Medesser felt she was supposed to be the leader of the traveling colony. Out of the bushes comes Ulysses, a giant ant eater who is afraid of ants and is a vegetarian. Ulysses was banished from his home by his father who was disgraced because of his son’s fear of ants. Ulysses roams the land looking for a place to stay. Taira extends her hand of hospitality to him as well and he is glad to be a part of a community once again. Just before Taira and her group reach Cedric the Wise, she runs into a colony that was recently destroyed by Marc Anthony. The colony looks familiar to Taira. That’s because it is the exact place that she ran off to just before her mother was killed. There she met Solomon, who asked her to head back home because of some approaching danger. Now she meets with Solomon again, but this time, Solomon is badly hurt and hanging on to life. Taira quickly has him lifted onto the shoulders of some of the termites and taken to Cedric’s home to heal. All the while, Medesser grows angrier. She sees these invitations into the traveling colony and Taira’s insistence to seek Cedric’s counsel as blight on her leadership. She will not stand for it much longer. During her visit with Cedric, Taira learns that she has actually been leading all along. She must, however, find their new home using her own faith and a dream about her mother. Taira sets out with new purpose after leaving Cedric’s home. Her new found confidence takes a sharp blow, however, when some humans in a camp ground set a fire by forgetting to put out the campfire upon their departure. Taira and her group must escape the fire, but they do so without the entire group. Medesser and her group decide that it would be best to split up, and worst of all, Ulysses is lost while helping them to escape. Taira’s confidence is low despite Tina and Solomon both trying to assure her that there was nothing she could do. She decides at that moment to let Solomon take over the colony and to go her own way, just as she had always wanted to do in the first place. But her plan does not pan out when Marc Anthony finally catches up with them and takes them to his vast kingdom. Taira has two choices now, marry Marc Anthony and be Queen over the vast kingdom, or rot in a prison dungeon and wonder if her friends have survived. Will Taira be able to summon all that her mother has taught her to stand up and be a true queen even in turmoil? Will her friends escape their fate after being taken captive? Find out in Taira, the Termite Queen.
About the author
Donald Wilson is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, and now resides in a north metro suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Kimberly and her son Jordan. Don, as he likes to be called, has pursued his writing career for the past ten years, finding inspiration from directors, writers, and authors, such as Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, John Singleton, and Tyler Perry. The experiences he had in his early life inspired him to write his first film project called Happy Hour - a true story based on his life growing up in the city of New Orleans. TAIRA the Termite Queen is Don’s first novel and marks a turning point in his writing career. Look for more great works of fiction and non-fiction, to come from this talented author in the near future.