Lightening Up Verse in Golden Girl

Here’s the synopsis of Reem Faruqi’s latest novel in verse, Golden Girl:

Seventh grader Aafiyah loves playing tennis, reading Weird but True facts, and hanging out with her best friend, Zaina. However, Aafiyah has a bad habit that troubles her—she’s drawn to pretty things and can’t help but occasionally “borrow” them.

But when her father is falsely accused of a crime he hasn’t committed and gets taken in by authorities, Aafiyah knows she needs to do something to help. When she brainstorms a way to bring her father back, she turns to her Weird but True facts and devises the perfect plan.

But what if her plan means giving in to her bad habit, the one she’s been trying to stop? Aafiyah wants to reunite her family but finds that maybe her plan isn’t so perfect after all. . .

Reem Faruqi, a founding member of diverse verse and the the award-winning, ALA Notable author of Unsettled and Lailah’s Lunchbox, shares the a behind-the-scenes look at Golden Girl…

I didn’t want to tell Aafiyah’s story. Initially, I resisted. In my latest novel in verse, GOLDEN GIRL, my character Aafiyah Qamar deals with some heavy issues such as Kleptomania. I’m a Pakistani-American Muslim and unfortunately Muslims don’t always get the best attention in the media. However, Muslims are just like other people. We have problems too. 

Aafiyah’s voice stayed with me so I told her story in the best way I could by weaving in pieces of my personal experiences. A close friend of mine used to steal my things. I remember the shock, sadness, and betrayal of being on the other side. I channeled it into GOLDEN GIRL.

When I set out drafting Aafiyah’s story, I knew she didn’t need to be instantly likable, but she did need to be redeemable. 

PROBLEM

I like the feeling

of something new in my hands.

I like the feeling

of something new in my hands

that’s not mine.

Aafiyah also deals with her father’s unjust detainment in Dubai.

PASSPORT

Even though Abba’s passport is 

American Blue

it seems like it doesn’t matter

because his skin is

Pakistani Brown.

The magical thing about writing verse is that I can write a heavy verse and jump over to a light one before sinking back into deep emotion. The white space is a perfect palette for covering tough topics as well as hopeful ones.

My character Aafiyah is intelligent and quirky. To make the verse appealing, I did my best to add sensory details and images.

DHOLKI

T-w-i-n-k-l-i-n-g lights

Flickering candles

Floating incense

Painted red lips

Girls in a ring

on fat mirrored cushions,

sing and clap.

As the dhol drums,

My heart matches its tune.

To make the verse light, I interspersed the verse with weird-but-true facts that I learned about from National Geographic throughout the story. Aafiyah loves reading these books and sometimes writes these facts down. As her life unravels, she relies on these facts to sometimes  make decisions, some that end up being problematic. 

Here are a few weird but true facts that I used:

Did you know that it’s easy to lie when your bladder is full?

Did you know that you are 30 times more likely to laugh with a friend than when you’re alone?

Did you know that cockroaches recognize their family members?

Growing up as a Pakistani-American Muslim, I heard lots of hadith.  A hadith is a prophetic saying. Most of the times, these hadith were told to us with love by an elder such as a parent or grandparent. Aafiyah is attracted to sparkly items that are not hers. Her beloved grandfather Dada Abu reassuringly guides her, after an especially low moment, by telling her a hadith, “Even if you have a valley full of gold, you’d still want more.”

I want readers to feel a connection to Aafiyah, to her journey, and to know that if they make mistakes, they too can recover from them. I want readers to know friendships can be mended, and that family relationships can strengthen even when you’re far apart. Making mistakes is human nature and part of growing up, but how we bounce back and change from them makes all the difference.

Early Praise for Golden Girl

Golden Girl is a captivating coming-of-age middle grade novel in verse about seventh grader Aafiyah Qamar, a Pakistani American girl who hatches a special plan to help her family but finds that doing what’s right isn’t always easy. For fans of The Thing About Jellyfish and Clean Getaway, this is a heartfelt, soul-searching story with laughter, hope, and lessons learned.

"A story about family, friendship, change, and hope." —Kirkus

“In Aafiyah, Faruqi creates a relatable but flawed protagonist whose road to redemption makes for an engaging, warmhearted story.” —Booklist

“This story [has] a well-characterized, flawed heroine and a lot of heart.” —Publishers Weekly

Much like in her previous novel Unsettled, Faruqi’s elegantly crafted verse illuminates a Muslim family navigating and ultimately transcending domestic challenges. She writes with incisive sensitivity of a common disorder that gets little attention in youth literature: “I grab the rainbow catcher/ just to see what it feels like./ The weight feels right/ a little like joy.” That Aafiyah’s path forward involves self-discipline and forgiveness will resonate with many readers—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books  

"Seventh-grader Aafiyah's charmed life is not without flaws, but it takes a sudden turn when her father is falsely accused of a crime. As Aafiyah tries to help her family, she ends up making all the wrong choices for all the right reasons and has to face her own challenges in a new way. Faruqi's beautifully observed and page-turning novel in verse overflows with compassion, honesty, and hope." -- Veera Hiranandani, Newbery Honor author of The Night Diary