How do we inspire girls to rock out?

Rachael King knows well how the camaraderie of being in a band can be a real game-changer for kids who are musical but a bit socially awkward - she joined her first band at 15.

But while young boys are encouraged to pick up rock instruments at a young age, she says preteen girls don't receive the same message.

Enter Violet and the Velvets - King's new book series about a band of 12-year-old girls led by a bass player who - like the auhor - happens to have inattentive ADHD.

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Violet and the Velvets -which features illustrations by Phoebe Morris, is aimed at children 7 and up.

King hopes the series will encourage young girls to start preparing for the teenage band camps run by Girls Rock! Aotearoa - and also recognise themselves, their friends and their “disorganised, chaotic mothers” in the characters.

King was in the sixth form (Year 12) and finding it hard to make friends when her older brother told her a band called Battling Strings was seeking a bass player.

Although she'd only played classical instruments before, King gave the bass a go and found learning it came quite easily. She went on to play with Flying Nun bands The Cakekitchen and The 3Ds in the '80s and early '90s.

King - who has published four previous books and was Literary Director of Christchurch's WORD Festival for eight years - was only recently diagnosed with ADHD and became aware after how few "positive portrayals" of girls with the condition there are in books for preteens.

Getting confirmation of her own brain-based attention struggles has helped King have self-understanding and self-compassion, and the condition does have its upsides, she says.

“I absolutely think the brains of people who have ADHD are really suited to artistic pursuits.”

Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff - the first book in the Violet and the Velvets series - is published by Allen & Unwin.