The Special Team Elite is an endearing story that deals with the adolescent themes of bullying, racial discrimination and ultimately appreciation of individualism in a world that, at times, is unforgiving of 'the other'. The story reflects the real-life experiences of writer Dr Soseh Yekanians, who struggled to find her own identity as a young Armenian immigrant in Australia. The story follows Siran, a young girl who is faced with the struggles of loving her individual qualities or conforming to the pressures placed upon her by others. The question for her is: what is the 'ideal norm'? Whilst on this journey of self-discovery, Siran finds a unique camaraderie with Soraya, who is a recently arrived refugee from Afghanistan, and Sinéad, who is a feisty red-head from Ireland. All three young girls instantly develop a unique bond through commonality of their differences and eventually embark on a lifelong friendship.
About the Author: Dr Soseh Yekanians is a director and acting lecturer from Sydney, Australia. In 2012 Soseh was awarded an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship where she embarked on a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in Perth. Her practice-led research titled, Creatively Pursuing Persona: Finding Identity Through Directing, investigated how theatre directing and the performing arts could provide culturally displaced individuals with a sense of identity and belonging. The Special Team Elite which emerged from her research is Soseh's first children's book and was inspired by her own upbringing in Australia as an Iranian-born Armenian and the struggles often faced through bullying on loving your differences or conforming to the pressures placed upon ourselves by others on what is considered to be "the ideal norm." Soseh is currently the Head of Acting at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) at the Ara Institute of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Dr Lyndall Adams is an academic and contemporary artist living in Perth, Australia. As an arts practice-led researcher Lyndall draws influences from the interface between post-structuralist and new materialist feminist thinking. Her arts-practice articulates the female body; the lived body that is determined and specific though paradoxically in a state of flux, defined and redefined by changing practices and discourses. Lyndall has participated in solo, collaborative and group exhibitions within Australia and internationally. Currently, Lyndall is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Arts and Humanities and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.