Meet Our July Indie Author of the Month: Juanda Ruth Bryant

Juanda Ruth Bryant is an award-winning educator, author as well as  a decorated military veteran who served 12 years in the United States Army as a Transportation Coordinator (88N) with combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.  As part of her role in the military, she served as  a family readiness group liaison which allowed her to help prepare soldiers and their families for deployment. In this position, she discovered the need for engaging and educating children about military deployment.  She penned Mini Adventures of Danny and the Deployer and Operation Care Package  to teach children how to cope with the challenges of military deployment..  Additionally, Bryant hopes that her work helps people, especially children, develop an appreciation for service members  and their sacrifices.  

The Danny and the Deployer book series was written to help children cope with separation anxiety due to military deployment.   In this book, a young boy named Danny finds out that his dad is being deployed and may be away from his family for a while. Danny's dad give him a special toy called a "deployer". Danny and the Deployer go on mini adventures to help him understand what Dad does in the military. 

Operation Care Package is the sequel which features a dad being deployed and how the family stays connected through care packages.  Readers learn what is in the care package and why is it classified. The following are Danny's new friends who join him and the Deployer on new and exciting adventures: "Ava the Airman, Carlos the Coast Guard, Maya the Marine, and Sam the Sailor." This book provides a positive representation of the military branches working together.