Muslim Storytellers reading

Third Place Books welcomes Diana Ma, Natasha Khan Kazi, Khadijah VanBrakle, Huda Al-Marashi, Intisar Khanani, and Loretta Chefchaouni to our Lake Forest Park store! Each author is a Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellowship fellow for children's literature and will be reading from selected work. Their books will be available for purchase at the event. This event is free and open to the public.

For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!

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This event is free to attend. RSVP is recommended in advance.

Diana Ma is a Chinese American author of Middle Grade and Young Adult books and an anti-oppressive educator. She was a 2019 We Need Diverse Books mentee and a 2021-2023 Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellow. Her debut novel Heiress Apparently was a 2021 Washington State Book Award finalist in Young Adult Literature. She teaches at North Seattle College and believes that it’s important for all kids to recognize themselves as the heroes of the books they read. Her belief that diverse books help us create a better world is what drives her writing and teaching. More information can be found about Diana on her website: Dianamaauthor.com

Natasha Khan Kazi was born in Bangladesh, raised in Texas, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and now lives in Southern California, where she writes and illustrates books for young readers, including her debut picture book, Moon’s Ramadan (a 2023 JLG Gold Standard Selection, SLJ Best Picture Book, Chicago Public Library Best Picture Book, and Bank Street Education Best Picture Book.) Her creative work is rooted in empathy, diversity, and childhood joy. Natasha is a 2023 Highlights Foundation Muslim Storyteller Fellow. Her 2025 picture books include Lulu In the Spotlight (Versify/HarperCollins) and Bela And Lily (Kokila/Penguin). Learn more about Natasha and her books at www.natashakhankazi.com and follow her adventures @natashakhankazi.

Khadijah VanBrakle is a Muslim woman of color, born and raised in Canada to American parents. She was a 2021-2023 Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellow. Her debut Young Adult novel, Fatima Tate Takes The Cake, was a 2024 NAACP Image Award finalist for Outstanding Youth/Teen literature and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Khadijah writes coming-of-age stories about Black American Muslim teens with universal themes so those who share her dual marginalization will finally see themselves on the printed page. Her sophomore YA novel, My Perfect Family, releases July 29th, 2025. For more information, check out her website: khadijahvanbrakle.com or her Instagram @khadijahvanbrakle. (Photo credit: Khadija Chudnoff)

Huda Al-Marashi is the author of the forthcoming middle grade novel Hail Mariam (Kokila/Penguin) and a coauthor of the middle grade novel Grounded (Abrams), which won the Walter Dean Myers Honor award. She also wrote the memoir First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story (Prometheus), which was longlisted for the Chautauqua Prize and a finalist for the Southern California Independent Booksellers’ Award. Her other writing has appeared in various anthologies and news outlets, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and al Jazeera. She is a fellow and mentor with the Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Program and a TEDx speaker. For more information, visit www.hudaalamarashi.com.

Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters. Prior to publishing her novels, Intisar worked as a public health consultant on projects relating to infant mortality and minority health, which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Now she focuses her time on her two passions: raising her family and writing fantasy. Intisar is the author of the Dauntless Path books (beginning with Thorn) and The Sunbolt Chronicles. Her most recent release, Memories of Ash, was a Kirkus Reviews pick for Best YA Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year (2024).

Loretta Chefchaouni is a former early childhood educator from Florida who writes for teens. Her fantastical tales turn grief and fear into myth and monsters and explore all the scary parts of being human within the safe space of stories. Her work has been shortlisted in The Write Mentor Children’s Novel Award, highly commended in the Blue Pencil Agency’s First Novel Award, and earned second place in Voyage YA’s First Chapter Contest. In 2021, she was chosen to participate in Highlights Foundation’s Muslim Storytellers Fellowship. Loretta’s debut novel is scheduled for publication in 2026. Find her on Instagram @lorechefwrites.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

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