Thirteen.
That’s the number of times this book was rejected and funnily enough that’s the same number of family members living in my street. Yep, side by side and at every dinner. I came close many times to giving up on this story but my family pushed me to do it. That and because they have this crazy idea that I’m somehow going to be a millionaire and be the Muslim version of J.K. Rowling.
Someone really needs to tell them how much authors get paid… Before I thank and acknowledge the incredible people who helped me on this journey, I want to start off by saying Al Hamdulillah, Praise Be to God, who blessed me with parents, Mohamad and Raife, that are the backbone to my success. There aren’t enough pages in the world that would suffice in letting them know how much I love them and how proud I am to be their Golden Child.
I’ve heard many daunting stories of debut authors and their experiences with their publishing team but I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and brilliant team than the one at Giramondo. Thanks to everyone who helped me, in particular Ivor and Nick, who went above and beyond and brought my story to life. I am forever grateful.
All this wouldn’t have been possible without the one and only Felicity Castagna to whom I owe much of this journey. She believed in me and my story when no one would and fought for its publication harder than I ever could. People underestimate what it means to be given a chance and Felicity always stood by me and guided me to be the writer I am today.
My exceptional editor Radhiah Chowdhury helped turn my manuscript into something I could never have imagined. She made me see things in a new light and I will always be indebted to her kindness, her commitment and to her compassion and care.
To the women in the Finishing School Collective, thank you for being incredibly brave to share your stories and inspire me to be brave enough to share mine. You guys are totally badass!
To everyone at WestWords, Michael Campbell and Christian Pazzaglia, thank you for opening up your space and creating an environment that encourages new and aspiring writers. We need more places like this that celebrate diversity.
Randa Abdel-Fattah and Melina Marchetta, my idols, thank you for taking the time to read my book and for your feedback. You are both the reason why a sixteen-year-old young Lebanese girl from Punchbowl believed she could write and share her story.
This won’t come as a bigger shock than to my teachers at Wiley Park Girls High who put up with me and my awesome pranks. Who would’ve thought the student who accidentally got suspended (a story for another time) is debuting her young adult book? Special thanks to Helen Kyriacou, my Ancient History teacher, who was a totally cool teacher and yet still strict enough that I never jigged her class.
To my amazing friends, you know who you are, who were there from the very beginning. Thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.
Thank you to my siblings Ahmad, Feda, Nada, Siffeldeen, Abdul-Rahman and Adam for just being yourselves. You gave me enough content to write a sequel to this book. You are the best people I know and I hope I made you proud.
There is more to my hometown Punchbowl, a place that is close to my heart, than the endless negative stories. It is here where I learnt the skills to face my fears and it is here where I built up the courage to fight for my voice, to fight for my story. To the men and women of Punchbowl, you inspire me everyday and I hope this book is one that you approve of.
And finally, this is for everyone with a red line under their name in Microsoft Word. Here’s to our names being permanently Added to Dictionary. May our colourful backgrounds and identities no longer be Ignored.