Process Talk with Jen: Saadia Faruqi on Ali the Great
[Posted by Jen Breach for Writing With a Broken Tusk]
Like many, many others, I adore Saadia Faruqi’s Yasmin, the Muslim Pakistani-American 2nd grade main character of twenty-four early readers (and counting), illustrated by Hatem Aly with huge, bright eyes. Last year, Saadia launched a “Yasmin” companion series, “Ali the Great,” illustrated by Debby Rahmalia, and four new books have just been released.
[Jen] In a recent social media post about “Ali the Great,” you wrote “When readers begged me to write a "boy book" I didn't really get it. We should all read Yasmin books, regardless of our gender, right?” (As a nonbinary writer I continue to be fascinated and confused by “boy book” versus “girl book” rhetoric…and also agree that everyone should read “Yasmin.”) Although Yasmin uses she/her pronouns and Ali uses he/him, neither character feels particularly gendered. Their different approaches to similar situations are more about their personality than traditional gender roles. Can you unpack how you approached a “boy book,” and why you chose to spinoff Ali in particular?
Photo courtesy of Saadia Faruqi
[Saadia] I also didn’t think of it as a boy book once I started writing. I realized that my customers wanted a series similar to Yasmin, but with a male main character, so I chose Ali, since he’s the only other Muslim/Pakistani character in her class. I could have begun a series from scratch, of course, with a completely new cast of characters, outside of the Yasmin world, but I wasn’t sure how that would be perceived. Setting the new series firmly within the world of Yasmin, and Ms. Alex’s second grade class, meant that readers would find it familiar and there would be a higher chance of it being read and enjoyed.
[Jen] Yes, that was exactly my experience reading Ali– “Oh hey, there’s Yasmin again!” It’s an interesting thing to turn a side character into a main character, and a main character into a side character.
[Saadia] There are some readers who will see themselves in Ali in a way that they don’t in Yasmin. While the situations in both series might be similar, the reactions of the main character are poles apart. For example, when Yasmin faces a problem, she worries about it, thinks really hard, tries over and over, until she figures out the solution. She’s a hard worker, and helpful to others. Ali, on the other hand, tends to joke around and be a little know-it-all. He often needs other people’s help in solving problems, which is how so many of my readers are. In the same way, Ali has a younger brother named Fateh, because so many of my readers have annoying younger siblings who have to be taken care of. I’ve found that Fateh’s presence allows for more storylines within the family, mostly revolving around this sibling dynamic.
“There is...a lot of joy in writing different types of stories, because it helps me get recharged and gain back my creativity. ”
[Jen] You are prolific: at the time of writing you’ve released close to four dozen books in the last seven years. You write for a mix of age groups (picture book, early reader, lower and upper chapter book, middle grade, even adults) and, as you put it, write “happy books” like “Yasmin” and “Ali” alongside “issues books” about partition or growing up Muslim in post-9/11 America. How do you compartmentalize, or not, working on multiple projects at once?
[Saadia] I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity to publish so many books, for so many ages of readers. It can get challenging to switch between projects, especially when I’m on deadline. There is also a lot of joy in writing different types of stories, because it helps me get recharged and gain back my creativity. I have a short attention span and tend to get bored of one type of thing quickly, so working on multiple projects at different stages of the publishing process is very helpful.
[Jen] Joy, boredom, gratitude, and challenge: what a full writer’s life!
[Uma chimes in] Some years ago, I had the pleasure of reading Saadia’s novel, A Thousand Questions, in manuscript form. I remember vividly a scene set in Karachi. I’ve never been to Pakistan, and Saadia made me feel as if I’d been transported there, strolling around the Mazar-e-Quaid. It’s a real delight to see her spirited stories out in the world, with their funny, loving portrayals of child characters.
