Episode 19: Khadijah VanBrackle
A downloadable PDF transcript of this episode will be available shortly
Khadijah VanBrakle was born and raised in Canada, to American parents. This mother of five has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and a half-finished MBA. She started writing for children as one of her 2012 New Year’s resolutions. Khadijah writes stories about characters, like her three daughters, who are both Black American and Muslim.
In September 2021, Khadijah was chosen for one of the Highlights Foundation’s Muslim Storytellers Fellowships. She holds an administrative position and is an active member of Black Creators HQ.
In this episode:
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Nancy Drew Mystery Stories by Carolyn Keene
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel by Lisa Cron
Gilmore Girls
Lindsay Eagar’s Creative Revisionist Class
The Lord of the Rings soundtrack
Maura, Khadijah’s editor at Holiday House
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne & Dave King
An Ember in the Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir
The Great British Baking Show
The Order of Things by Kaija Langley
Control Freaks by J.E. Thomas
Tagging Freedom by Rhonda Roumani
All You Have to Do by Autumn Allen
Fatima Tate Takes the Cake
Fatima Tate wants to be a baker AND enjoy some innocent flirting with her hot friend Raheem—but her strict Muslim parents would never approve of either…
Seventeen-year-old Fatima Tate, aspiring baker (100% against her conservative parents’ wishes), leads a pretty normal life in Albuquerque: long drives with BFF Zaynab, weekly services at the mosque, big family parties, soup kitchen volunteering (the best way to perfect her flaky dough recipe!), stressing about college. But everything changes when she meets a charming university student named Raheem. Knowing the ‘rents would FREAK, Fatima keeps their burgeoning relationship a secret… and then, one day, her parents and his parents decide to arrange their marriage. Amazing! True serendipity!
Except it’s not amazing. As soon as the ring is on Fatima’s finger, Raheem’s charm transforms into control and manipulation. Fatima knows she has to call the whole thing off, but Raheem doesn’t like to lose. He threatens to reveal their premarital sexual history and destroy her and her family’s reputation in their tight-knit Muslim community. Fatima must find the inner strength to blaze her own trail by owning her body, her choices, and her future.