“I can really relate to the experiences these kids are facing and there wasn’t any literature they could connect to, that they could see themselves in,” Fatehali said. “This kind of book allows them to connect to the characters, connect to the life events, to the similar situations that take place.”
Fatehali was a baby in the 1970s when her parents fled Uganda and the bloodthirsty tyranny of Idi Amin, who was targeting people of South Asian descent. An Ismaili Muslim who founded Thrive Kids! to help children discover their inner strengths, identities and sense of purpose, she spent two years writing the book — and almost as long trying to find a publisher that would accept a Muslim as the book’s main character.
