Author Interview – Huda Al-Marashi

I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to author Huda Al-Marashi today. Huda is a Middle grade author who has written many beautiful books, among which is a personal favorite of mine GROUNDED, and today we will be discussing her book: HAIL MARIAM which came out from Kokila/Penguin Kids on Feb 24, 2026

I adore reading Muslim middle grade, and the synopsis sounds so compelling. I am so excited to dive into this story and talk to Huda about this book!

Librarians and educators- you don’t want to miss this!

About HAIL MARIAM:

Hail Mariam is an interfaith Muslim take on Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret drawn from the author’s own experiences in Catholic school.

Sixth grade wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.

Iraqi American Mariam Hassan transfers to a local Catholic school and before her first day her parents remind her that she might be the first Muslim her classmates have ever met. No big deal, right? Just represent an entire religion while making new friends, keeping up with schoolwork, and figuring out who she is.

When Mariam’s younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a serious lung condition, her family faces endless doctor visits and sleepless nights. Mariam tries to lighten their burden and keep her own problems to herself—including the fact that she’s just been cast as Mary in the school’s Christmas nativity play.

Mariam wants to honor her faith and her new community, but she’s terrified of crossing a religious line. Can a Muslim girl be the lead in a Christian story? What will her family think? And why does she feel like every decision she makes represents all Muslims?

Mariam discovers that faith, much like friendships, isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. As she leans on her family, friends, and school community, she begins to see the power of interfaith cooperation and learns she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Hail Mariam is a celebration of the beauty of finding common ground.

Interview with Huda:

I loved getting to talk to Huda about her new book and I know you will enjoy meeting her and Mariam as well.

SSS: What a wonderful premise of interfaith commonality. Can you tell us a little bit more about what inspired this story?

HA: This story is based on so many of my lived experiences. Like Mariam, I went to a Catholic middle school, but I also went on to an all-girls Catholic high school and a Jesuit university. As I got older, I came to appreciate the ways in which being immersed in another religious tradition shaped me, and it was something I wished more people had the opportunity to experience. Even when we have major theological differences, it helped me to see the patterns among people of faith and how we value similar things. It got me thinking that I could use stories from my middle school years to show how my interfaith education broadened my horizons and allowed me to see those commonalities.

SSS: Tell us about the character Mariam- is she similar or different personality-wise from you?  

HA: Mariam is the eldest daughter of Iraqi immigrants so we definitely share the personality traits that tend to come with that. At home, she’s wants to be a dutiful daughter and sister, and at school, she wants to be recognized as her teacher’s sunshine. And while much of that does resonate with me, Mariam is far more conflicted than I ever was. In order for me to show her transformation, I started her off in an almost exaggerated place of right and wrong, and she struggles with the decisions she makes in the book far more than I ever did. For example, she wrestles with being cast as Mary in the Christmas play, however when I was in middle school and was also offered the part of Mary, I immediately said, “No, I can’t,” and the decision was over in minutes. 

SSS: I hardly ever see Iraqi rep out in the world. Thank you for this book. Tell us more about how culture affects Mariam and her story?

HA: Thank you for recognizing that under-representation! With this book, I hoped to show how our religious and sectarian differences have been exploited. I chose to make Mariam’s parents mixed sect and her mom’s best friend Christian as a way to reflect the various groups in Iraqi society and to show how integrated these communities are. We have a much longer history of coexistence than the politically-motivated strife that we see represented in the media.

SSS: I love the cover! Can you tell us more about how the concept came about?

HA: I love it too! From the beginning, we knew wanted to integrate Christian and Muslim symbols, and my editor shared a few concept ideas with the cover artist, along with pictures of when I was in middle school. And then we went back and forth quite a bit to capture Mariam’s inquisitive look and spunk.

Link to order here.

Writing Process 

SSS: When did you start writing the story and was the process a long one?

HA: It was so long! I drafted a version of this during Covid when I set a goal for myself to write a chapter a week, but it was my first attempt at writing a middle grade novel and I knew it had problems that needed to be addressed. I put it aside while drafting GROUNDED, a collaborative novel I wrote with Aisha Saeed, S.K. Ali, and Jamilah Thompkins Bigelow, but when that was finished, I had to face the draft again and I didn’t have the tools to fix it. Thankfully, I got into what was then known as the Highlights Foundation and is currently known as Boyds Mill Muslim Storytellers Fellowship, and I found the resources there to revise it into the draft that finally sold in 2024.

SSS: Are you a pantser or a plotter? And what helps you with finishing stories when you first start writing your drafts?

HA: I’m a bit of both. I’ll do a rough outline by hand and then try to feel my way through, drafting chapter by chapter, but once I have a draft, I go back to my paper and pen outlines to really think through what I’m actually doing and where I still need to go.

SSS: Any advice for fellow middle-grade authors looking to write MG?

HA: Since I was making the switch from writing for adults to writing for middle grade audiences, I had a lot of work to do on the voice. It was one of those things that I sincerely thought I was addressing in each revision, but my early drafts were far too serious and I would sometimes slip into a more adult voice. It wasn’t until my agent suggested that I lean into the humor that something clicked into place for me. I think that some levity will always be welcome in middle grade books. A little humor goes a long way!

Bonus!

SSS: Bonus question! Do you have more books coming?

HA: I have one more middle grade on the way. I know it will tackle the themes that I’m always drawn to in my work, identity, faith, and family, but it’s still in its early stages so I’m not quite sure how it’s all going to show up!

Thank you Huda for joining us and I hope readers and librarians enjoy your book! I know I am so excited to dive in!!!

About Huda:

Huda Al-Marashi writes for both children and adults. She is a coauthor of the middle grade novel Grounded, which won the Walter Dean Myers Honor award, and the author of the memoir First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. Her other writing has appeared in various anthologies and news outlets, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Al Jazeera. She is a fellow and mentor with the Muslim Storytellers Program at Boyds Mill, formerly known as the Highlights Foundation, and she lives in San Diego, California, with her husband and three children.

Website: www.hudaalmarashi.com

INSTAGRAM: @huda.almarashi

Shifa Safadi

SHIFA SALTAGI SAFADI is the National Book Award winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former ELA teacher, and is passionate about spreading a love of reading through storytimes and school visits. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.

Find her on Instagram @shifasaltagisafadi