Zara's Rules for Record Breaking Fun

I am super excited for this adorable book, and what is sure to be an awesome rest of the series about Zara Saleem (Zayd Saleem’s older sister)!

Genre: early MG/Chapter Books

Ages: 7-11

Available for preorder on my amazon page- link in bio (Releases in April!)

Screening: brief mention of bhangra music/sitara instrument (Super clean book)

Zara loves being queen of her neighborhood and boss of all the rules in the games her and her friends play. But when a new girl moves to town, Zara feels like her friends abandoned her friendship. In an effort to prove she is the coolest queen, Zara sets out to break a Guinness World record but after failing at tap dancing, chalk drawing, and hula hooping, Zara needs to find out what being a queen truly means…and the crown isn’t always meant to be shouldered alone!!

This book is set before Zayd Saleem series if you have read it, but either way can be read on its own!

I just adored this book!! I had a smile on my face the whole time and I can’t wait for my kids to read it. It was so fun to read and kid friendly!

It truly is a perfect book for the age group and one relatable to any backgrounds, and yet still so authentic and representative to the own voice Muslim Pakistani narrative of the author @henakhanbooks .

There is a lot of Desi rep, whether in the Urdu words (bakwas and buttkhameez made me laugh), lots of yummy food (nankhatai cookies, samosas, biryani), the amazing grandparents, chai and so much more little sprinkles.

Islam is mentioned throughout as well- an inshaAllah and a salaams, quran read, cultural hijab worn by Naano, praying, Eid leftovers. It wasn’t anything really super detailed but a natural part of the characters lives and mentioned enough to feel authentic but not overly preachy.

Naomi, the new girl, is Jewish and makes rugelach cookies, mentions Jewish school and a Bar mitzvha. I enjoyed that the story included diverse characters who got along together and were friends without faith ever being an issue.

My favorite part was how everyone was so neighborly and the community feel and fun writing style makes this book a def new favorite for us!!❤️

Can’t wait for more in this series!!

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