INTERVIEW: HUDA FAHMY

WORDS WITH... Huda Fahmy

A Muslim American comics artist tackles hard truths with humor in a new graphic novel for young adults

BY HANNAH BAE

Huda Fahmy

Tears, fears, and a whole lot of humor bubble up in comics artist Huda Fahmy’s Huda F Are You? (Dial Books, Nov. 23), a graphic novel/memoir hybrid for young adults. Hard truths about life as a visibly Muslim woman in America are a mainstay of Fahmy’s work, as seen in her debut, Yes, I’m Hot in This, and in witty webcomics. Here, she depicts a fictionalized teenage version of herself who gropes awkwardly for a sense of self-identity beyond the hijab she wears, with plenty of comedic missteps along the way. Our review calls the book “hilarious, charming, and much needed” for its adept, heartfelt handling of themes like xenophobia, teenage self-loathing, and finding validation. Fahmy, who lives in Houston, Texas, answered our questions about the book via email. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

After writing for adults, how did you tailor Huda F Are You? to young adult readers, especially when it came to handling themes like Islamophobia and racism? It was a matter of putting myself in my old high school shoes. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult every time I went there. I was a sophomore in high school when 9/11 happened, so it’s not a time that I enjoy revisiting. Islamophobia and racism don’t care what age you are, and even the youngest among us find themselves victim to it. It becomes a responsibility, then, to help young readers try to navigate these harsh realities and come out stronger despite them. Also, I’d be remiss not to credit my amazing editors at Dial for helping me keep the tone age-appropriate.

Why was it important to you to reach younger readers? Can I be selfish and say I wrote this book for me? It is the book I wish I had growing up struggling with my Muslim, Arab, American identities. I want young readers to benefit because the struggle with identity is so universal and so looming at this age. I hope that hearing there’s no right or wrong way to figuring out who you are helps relieve the stress and anxiety that often plague young readers.

How did you decide to bring a fictional element into this book, as opposed to making the book a strictly nonfiction graphic memoir?

Short answer: I wanted more freedom. I didn’t want to be limited to just my life when it came to telling this story of identity and self-discovery.

Long answer: 9/11 was a major event that shaped my high school life and the years after. I realized that young readers today might not fully grasp the trauma that many [people of color] experienced because of the events of this tragic day. Instances of Islamophobia and racism are unfortunately as present today as they ever were, so that gave me much more freedom in telling a story that isn’t just based on my life and experiences, but on the experiences of young people of color who experience micro- and macroaggressions daily.

What were some of the comics that you loved when you were growing up? How about now? “Garfield,” “Calvin and Hobbes,” “The Far Side,” different manga series. I still enjoy “Calvin and Hobbes” and “The Far Side.” I love graphic novels by Gene Luen Yang, Raina Telgemeier, and Svetlana Chmakova and webcomics by amazing artists like Weinye Chen (It’s Weinye), Marzi Williams (Introvert Doodles), and Asbah Alaena (AMuslimMama). I wish I could list them all.

Amid all the humor, how did you find the emotional inflection points in this story, especially Huda’s moving relationship with her mother? When my mother read those scenes for the first time, she cried. In the book, Huda’s relationship with her mother, as seen in these poignant moments, is an essential plot device that drives Huda to self-discovery. Huda’s mother wants her kids to be stronger than she was. [In the past,] she let shame and fear stop her from living her life the way she wanted, and she regrets it. She decides to become an example of strength for her kids. It’s something Huda admires but fears she can never live up to.

Why did you want to examine Huda’s family’s shift away from cultural assimilation? As a kid, I felt a strong push to assimilate, so common among immigrants and first-generation Americans. The fear of violence and backlash against us, simply for being Arab and Muslim, was so real. All I wanted to do was survive. I did that by trying to fit in.

As I got older, that fear turned into anger and indignation. Why should I be afraid to be myself? Why should I be ashamed to proudly display my culture, beliefs, and heritage? This change of perspective spoke so much to Huda’s shift in understanding identity and taking pride in her religion and culture. I feel a lot of young readers, similarly, want to fit in but are afraid it means they’ll have to give up a lot of what defines their identity.

Are more YA or kid lit books in your future? Yes! I’m working on another YA graphic novel, and I would love to venture into children’s literature someday soon.

Hannah Bae is a Korean American writer, journalist, and illustrator and winner of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award. Huda F Are You? was reviewed in the Oct. 1, 2021, issue.

see how they learn from one another. Watching her new friend being tormented helps Sydney view her past actions in a new light and decide how she wants to behave going forward. The story also highlights the impacts of harsh behavior at home, as Finn’s mother thinks that being gay is a choice—one she disagrees with—while Sydney’s father makes her feel mediocre no matter how hard she tries, which is another piece of her journey to finding her voice. Sigafus (Ojibwa) has written a brief and accessible novel that will engage readers and help them understand that we all make mistakes but what truly matters is whether we can learn from them.

A compassionate story for reluctant readers. (resources)

(Fiction. 12-18)

GAME ON 15 Stories of Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between

Ed. by Silverman, Laura Viking (448 pp.) $18.99 | Jan. 18, 2022 978-0-593-35278-6

Games of many sorts lead to triumph, tragedy, angst, joy, hookups, and breakups for teens in tales set both on and off the playing field.

Prefaced by content warnings for four entries, these previously unpublished stories by a stellar cast of YA contributors feature casts notably diverse in racial and sexual identity in settings ranging from a football field and an amusement park to a house abandoned for decades in the wake of a bloody mass murder. The disquieting stories are well outnumbered by more upbeat ones, though. Bisexual Mexican American Maddi, who lives with an anxiety disorder, struggles to keep her hot college roommate, Olivia, from finding out that she plays quidditch in Anna Meriano’s “Just Tell Them You Play Soccer.” While Benji, in Shaun David Hutchinson’s steamy “Spite and Malice,” finds a competitive card game gives him the nerve to take a chance with neighbor Dan, giddy Fei (Anglicized as “Faye”) teams up with her crush, Pierce, who presents White, to solve multilingual puzzles in “Mystery Hunt” by Gloria Chao. Other young players pair off or form groups of various combinations and grow, grapple with racism, deal with grief, and even expose a killer. Readers will find this collection fresh, thought-provoking, and wise in the ways of adolescent coming-of-age.

A few chills but mostly thrills and likely to broaden anyone’s notion of what winning is all about. (author bios)

(Anthology. 13-18)

BOUND BY FIRELIGHT

Swift, Dana Delacorte (448 pp.) $18.99 | Jan. 18, 2022 978-0-593-12425-3 Series: Wickery, 2

Adraa and Jatin struggle to defend their people amid growing danger and mistrust. Adraa, the heir to Belwar, is a gifted witch, an innovator, an Underground cage caster, and the heroic, masked Red Woman. Now, she is also either the savior of her people or the monster who tried to kill them all. On trial for causing the deadly eruption of Mount Gandhak, Adraa is framed as a villain, and her people lose faith in her as heir and in her family as rulers. Imprisoned in the impregnable Dome, Adraa struggles to hold on to her secrets and feelings of self-worth despite being plagued by insecurity and guilt. Jatin, heir to Naupure and the secret vigilante Night, gathers his friends and plans to free his love, Adraa, by any means necessary. In this action-packed sequel, familiar characters reappear and past plot threads weave seamlessly together as the fates of both kingdoms hang in the balance. While the villains are slightly one-dimensional, the treatments of topics such as guilt, secrets, grief, and the impact of drug use and abuse are intricate and well analyzed. They are balanced, often with humor, by themes of love, friendship, family, and community. Similarly, inequities between the Touched magic users and the Untouched, who cannot use magic, continue to be questioned. The story is set in a reimagined fantasy version of India, in which different kingdoms vary culturally and physically.

Satisfyingly packed with emotional insights, epic magic

duels, and twisty intrigue. (Fantasy. 12-18)

THE BONE SPINDLE

Vedder, Leslie Putnam (416 pp.) $18.99 | Jan. 11, 2022 978-0-593-32582-7

Two treasure hunters aim to save a sleeping prince in this gender-swapped “Sleeping Beauty.” Historian Filore Nenroa and lady “huntsman” Shane Ragnall are teen treasure hunters, each doomed by curse or circumstance to wander far from their homes. While exploring magical ruins, Fi pricks her finger on a spindle and discovers that she is destined to wake Briar Rose, the beautiful sleeping prince who seems to have stepped straight out of shōjo manga. Meanwhile, Shane meets Red, a mysterious and enthralling young woman who keeps popping up at just the right moments. Looming over their journey is the Spindle Witch, who cursed Briar Rose and his fallen kingdom. Vedder comes across as very self-aware of the clichés she is subverting. The unsatisfying

“Like a mooncake—sweet, savory, and altogether satisfying.”

loveboat reunion

ending is clearly a setup for sequels; nevertheless, the overall impression is charming, with lively adventure, likable characters, and a creative take on magic and witches. The romances between Fi and Briar and Shane and Red are passionate and fluttery but stay realistic by—pointedly—rejecting destiny. Fi and Shane face exciting, video game–like fights and puzzles during their quests, always doing their best to avoid killing people. In this fairy-tale world, being gay is satisfyingly unremarkable. Two of the protagonists read as White; the other two ambiguously have tan skin and dark hair, and background characters have a range of skin tones.

An enchanting read for fans of fairy-tale romance and girls

with battle axes. (Fantasy. 12-18)

LOVEBOAT REUNION

Wen, Abigail Hing HarperTeen (448 pp.) $18.99 | Jan. 25, 2022 978-0-06-295730-6

The antagonists of Loveboat, Taipei (2020) try to shed their old ways and show the world that they have something to offer. Sophie Ha regrets her poor behavior during the Loveboat program, and she’s determined to be a better person as she starts college at Dartmouth. Familial pressure to marry well caused Sophie to prioritize romantic relationships above all else; now she plans to achieve success through studying AI. No more romance for her—especially not with Xavier Yeh, given their disastrous summer fling and current friendship. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Xavier is forced by his father, the CEO of a Taiwanese business empire, to repeat his senior year of high school. Xavier, who has dyslexia and dysgraphia, must obey in order to gain independence from a family that prioritizes its reputation above all else. A Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in Taipei presents an opportunity for both teens to advance toward their goals, but an accidental group chat message transforms the trip into an extravagant weekend reunion for Loveboat alums. This sequel highlights themes of personal growth and self-acceptance from the perspectives of two characters whose talents are frequently perceived as flaws by those around them. Amid schoolwork, lastminute event planning, and nail-biting family drama, Xavier and Sophie start to recognize their better selves...and also, perhaps, see a second chance at being together. Characters are mostly Taiwanese or Taiwanese American.

Like a mooncake—sweet, savory, and altogether satisfying. (cast of characters, assistive tools for dyslexia and dysgraphia)

(Romance. 14-18)

THE EXCALIBUR CURSE

White, Kiersten Delacorte (368 pp.) $18.99 | $21.99 PLB | Dec. 7, 2021 978-0-525-58175-8 978-0-525-58176-5 PLB Series: Camelot Rising, 3

Lines between good and evil blur as loyalties are tested in this trilogy conclusion. Following the cliffhanger ending of The Camelot Betrayal (2020), Guinevere may have successfully sealed Camelot against its enemies in Arthur’s absence, but that wasn’t enough to save her. Held by Picts (who prefer to be called northern people) and familiar faces—Mordred and Morgana—she’s being taken by King Nechtan’s army to see the Dark Queen. Along with her complicated relationship with silver-tongued Mordred, Guinevere quickly forms a rapport with one of her captors, finding Nechtan’s bold, witty daughter Fina impossible not to like. Taking advantage of her proximity to Morgana—who assures Guinevere that they share a true enemy in Merlin—Guinevere asks her to help untangle the truth of Guinevere’s identity. The hard-fought answers she eventually finds cause her even worse existential angst. Tangled up with Guinevere’s identity issues is her web of relationships involving passion, duty, love—especially love, numerous kinds of love— and the broken trusts that weigh on her heart. Guinevere’s internal war of identity and individuality ends up informing the physical action of the climactic battle in a dramatic, highstakes way. The conclusion of the story closes the curtain on the mythical elements in a gratifying manner and gives closure to the characters, though not without some bittersweet losses.

Readers will be ensorcelled by the redemptions, revela-

tions, and reconciliations. (Fantasy. 12-18)

THE STORYTELLER

Williams, Kathryn HarperTeen (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 11, 2022 978-0-06-304939-0

A hidden trove of diaries connects a New Hampshire teen with the Russian princess Anastasia Romanov. While helping to clear out her late great-great-aunt Anna’s house, 17-yearold Jess uncovers a chest full of diaries written in Russian hidden away in the attic. She enlists the help of Evan, a college student majoring in Russian, to help her translate them. What they discover leads them to believe that Anna, who lived a quiet life married to Jess’ great-great-uncle Henry, may have been the Russian royal who was rumored to have escaped when the rest of her family was executed in 1918. As Jess and Evan work their way through the diaries, readers are treated to long excerpts in which young Anastasia details her

unlikely escape to the United States via Western Europe. Jess strives to please everyone around her by acting like someone she’s not—from her mother, who wants her to attend Harvard, to her boyfriend, who knows her as nothing but easygoing and agreeable—and she finds parallels to her own struggles in Anastasia’s existence as an imposter. Jess’ present-day sections set in 2007 are the more engaging of the two storylines, though the influence of Anna’s narrative on Jess’ life is noteworthy and satisfying by the time the tale is untangled. Apart from Jess’ best friend, a Chinese American transracial adoptee, main characters read as White.

An interesting take on storytelling and identity. (author’s

note, sources, further reading) (Fiction. 13-18)

THE TEMPERATURE OF ME AND YOU

Zepka, Brian Disney-Hyperion (416 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 25, 2022 978-1-368-06471-2

A lonely gay teen with a burning desire for love meets a mysterious new boy with explosive powers who is on the run from an evil corporation. As the only openly gay boy in his grade, high school junior Dylan Highmark has few prospects for romance, even with the help of Perry and Kirsten, two cheerleaders who are his best friends. Although his parents enthusiastically (and annually) celebrate his coming out, Dylan has no LGBTQ+ peer community support, something further emphasized by his school’s Gay Straight Alliance, where he is the first gay member in years and most participants describe themselves as allies. Dylan is desperate to escape his Philadelphia suburb until Jordan Ator arrives and lights up his world, literally. Jordan moved from Arizona to escape HydroPro, the hydrogen fuel corporation responsible for his parents’ deaths and his own mutant fire powers following a car crash. Unfortunately, Jordan can’t control his combustibility, and HydroPro has no intention of letting him get away. Several times throughout this novel, characters express that their circumstances make no sense, a refrain that unfortunately captures both the unfolding plot and the foundation for the hydrogen-based superpowers. HydroPro knows Jordan’s location due to the string of publicized arsons connected to his powers, making their struggle to apprehend him unbelievable. There are many instances of casual fatphobia alongside the valorization of muscled bodies. Main characters read as White.

An interesting premise that fails to spark. (Science fiction. 14-18)