Fierce Friday and Signed Book Sunday

I had a good time at Yall West’s Fierce Friday. The crowd’s enthusiasm and energy was infectious. I was able to meet one author I’m a fan of, two authors did not come. It was a cool afternoon at one of the five Santa Monica public libraries. It made standing in line chatting with other

Attending Yall West!

I’m excited to attend Yall West today in Santa Monica! It will be great to see some of my favorite YA authors in person. Let’s hope I find parking.

What I’m Reading This Ramadan…

First of all, Happy Book Birthday to HOMELAND: MY FATHER DREAMS OF PALESTINE! This children’s book by second-generation Palestinian and debut author Hannah Moushabeck is the first positive book about Palestine I’ve seen from a major publishing house, so props to Chronicle Books! Keep a lookout for my upcoming post with the next book on

Ramadan Reading List 2023

Coming Soon…

Eating represses feelings, Exercise lets them go.

Originally posted on Author Shireen Hakim:
I’ve always been physically active; I played sports and fidgeted in my seat in class. I’m happier when I’m active. For the past few years though, in a household of TV watchers, I became couch potato chip-eater, and therefore depressed. I ignored my instinct to go outside and walk…

It’s Springtime! by Rabia Bashir illustrated by Azra Momin

Originally posted on Islamic School Librarian:
This sweet 18 page board book introduces seasons to our littlest Muslims through rhyming lines, Islamic gratitude and activities enjoyed during certain times of the year.  It even has a “spot and talk” activity at the back and a way to explain “Alhumdulillah” to children.  The text is simple…

New Position as BuzzFeed Contributor!

I’m so grateful. This really is a dream come true. I’ve been pitching to BuzzFeed since 2017, and thankfully this year they onboarded me as a Contributor! I can’t wait to share my first article with you! Which will of course be about books! Stay tuned. Thanks for your support.

Celebrating Eid at Home

My second Personal Essay for We Need Diverse Books One of the biggest honors of my writing career was working on the We Need Diverse Books blog team. My second essay for WNDB was about the first Eid under the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a comfort to express my thoughts and experiences with the WNDB

First Reading of “Rabbi the Rabbit!”

I had a great time reading my award-winning children’s fiction short story “Rabbi the Rabbit” at the Islamic Center of Claremont’s Community School! The kids were attentive and asked intelligent questions, like ‘who is the illustrator?’ I was nervous that the kids wouldn’t sit through the story, which is about a heavy topic, refugee children.

NaNoWrimo Blog post: Follow the Rabbit

I’m excited and grateful that I blogged for NaNoWriMo! I love their site and have benefited from their advice, so I’m happy they responded to my ideas. I feel validated as a writer. My blog post has my tips on traditionally publishing a book, based on my experience writing and publishing my refugee story “Rabbi