Author Interviews

Interview with Debut Middle Grade Author Shafaq Khan

By Katie McEnaney on September 11, 2025 / Author Interviews, New Releases

Craving action? Mystery? An international jewel heist across multiple countries?

Look no further than the newly-released Zeyna Lost and Found, the debut middle grade novel by Shafaq Khan. Twelve-year old Zeyna is itching for a real case, worthy of her detective skills. So far, the most exciting mystery of 1970 is where her mother misplaced their London Tube tickets.

But when Zeyna notices an angry man in a dark jacket and hat, maybe it isn’t a coincidence that he gets off at the same stop. Maybe she’s being followed! As the coincidences start to pile up, Zeyna becomes convinced that this is more than an over-active imagination: this is real. But before she can connect the dots, she and her younger brother Mahir are swept off to Pakistan for a family wedding.

It’s only when her parents disappear—accused of an international jewel heist—that Zeyna realizes her detective skills may be the only way to find the jewel and prove her parents’ innocence.

Cover of Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan

Interview with middle grade author Shafaq Khan

Katie: Shafaq, thank you so much for chatting with us about your debut book, Zeyna Lost and Found. Congrats on it being named a Junior Library Guild Selection and an Indies Introduce pick!

First question, if you were stuck on the Tube with a student who loves mysteries and adventures, what would be your quick elevator pitch for why they should read Zeyna’s story?

Shafaq: Thanks for having me! If you want to read a story about a spunky twelve-year-old that is always looking for a mystery even when there isn’t one, asking questions no one wants to answer, being stonewalled by adults but then embarking on a quest to save an international jewel and her family, then Zeyna is your girl. Zeyna Lost and Found will scratch your itch if you love mysteries, traveling, or jokes, and bonus points if you like all three!

Katie: Zeyna is such a fun and relatable character. Sure, she’s impulsive and a bit paranoid, but it all comes from such a deep and sincere place. Does Zeyna have much in common with you as a kid? If not, where did you find inspiration for her personality?

Shafaq: I share more in common with Zeyna than I will ever admit (except now, of course) because we both have a pathological need to figure things out, love and are loyal to our family, and make ill-timed jokes. Zeyna may have started off as a character that struggled with finding a balance between the Self and the World around her, just like I did and do, but she soon took on a life of her own. I really sat with her as a character to fully understand her. I wanted someone who did unimaginably daring things so I let my mind wander to scenarios and situations I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole myself. I also did an exercise that NYT Bestselling author Sabaa Tahir recommended, which is to ask your character questions and role play their answers. It was critical in helping me flesh out who Zeyna exactly is.

Katie: I love that you created a Zeyna playlist on Spotify. Can you tell us a little bit about your process for choosing songs?

Shafaq: These songs are some of my favorite songs and I urge readers to take a listen while reading and after as well! Each one reminds me of Zeyna for different reasons. The Beatles songs are quintessential London living – the things that she loves about her city and her family. Some of the other songs evoke travel and mysticism that reminded me of some of the places that Zeyna visits (like the Badshaahi masjid and the song Doobne De), one song, Rozi, is about a girl forging her own path, and a few songs are about her hijinks and friendship with her brother and cousin (think: Kids, Dosti).

Spotify playlist opening for Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan

Katie: Teachers often tell students to “Write what you know.” How have you been able to use “what you know” to write historical fiction involving so many different cities and countries?

Shafaq: Having studied some of the countries featured and traveled through others, I relied on what I knew or understood for some of the details but the real process was actually unlearning what I thought I knew. Relying on secondary sources but then following up on primary sources like photos and journal entries and other accounts, helped me flesh out the details, all while trying to be mindful of my own biases or preconceived notions. For example, with Iran, there is quite a bit of attention on the aesthetic of the seventies, but perhaps less of a discussion on the economic unrest or political prisoners that made the on-the-ground reality more complicated. Also, some of us (Pakistanis) may think about places like Lahore or Bahawalpur as quintessentially Pakistani, but they aren’t. They became Pakistani after an arbitrary line was drawn and so the book touches on this idea of shared culture and shared values amongst people despite the modern concept of a nation-state. What binds us together rather than what differentiates us.

Map of the Hippie Trail across south and central Asia

Map of the Hippie Trail at the time of Zeyna Lost and Found

Katie: That is such an important point for kids to think about, thank you.

Since this is your first middle grade novel, can you tell us a little about your path to publication? What led you to write for kids?

Shafaq: I knew I wanted to write a story I would have wanted to read, featuring a flawed, funny, brave Pakistani girl. I knew I wanted to feature her family in an unapologetic way that leaned into culture and tradition without orientalizing it. I wanted a fast-paced story that engaged me and uplifted me. When I pitched this idea to an agent, who I met through a completely random introduction, it probably sounded like it was doing too much but I’m grateful for being given the chance to do it. Once my agent started pitching it to publishers, I was stressed and anxious about it being out in the world and then absolutely over the moon excited when Lerner Publishing Group/Carolrhoda Books/Lab bought the book! I really felt the book had found its home in a publishing house that valued and understood the story.

Katie: What advice would you give to fledgling MG authors?

Shafaq: Just start writing. It doesn’t have to be perfect but get it all out there and then relentlessly edit those pages. Think about the plot but take care of your characters so you give readers a chance to imagine and feel their story. Seek out feedback and really consider it but be ok with rejecting it. You have to know where you are going but you need a lot of help getting there so the more eyes you can get on it, the better. Also, never stop reading other books and keeping your eyes/ears open to the stories around you. I ended up adding terms or conversation exchanges based on what I was observing/reading/consuming in my life. Be obsessed with your story so it becomes the lens through which you see the world around you.

Katie: What are some of your favorite middle grade books or series?

Shafaq: I love Sayantani Dasgupta’s Kiranmala series and the City Spies series by James Ponti, but perhaps, that will come as no surprise! Sayantani’s use of cultural storytelling/tropes and humor is truly a work of art and City Spies does a fantastic job with integrating clues with the physical surroundings so you feel immersed in the location.

Katie: Is there anything else that you would like readers to know about Zeyna or about your upcoming projects?

Shafaq: I’m working on a few things so be ready for some more characters poking around where they shouldn’t and please follow me on my Instagram Shafaq_khan_author or Tiktok at shafaqjk for updates!

No MUF interview is complete without a lightning round so …

Lightning Round!

Chai, Nescafe, or Turkish coffee? A foamy, sugary Nescafe any day! And a Turkish coffee if I really need a jolt.

Sightseeing by taxi or by bus? Since I like people watching, I love being on a bus so you have a chance to observe the people inside and outside. I also like how bus sounds lull me to sleep.

Favorite kebab? This is a tough one because, like Zeyna, I will always opt for the kebab option. If I had to choose one, I would go with adana (sorry, Mama).

Dream job when you were a kid? I always wanted to be a lawyer. Advocating for people and issues to ensure fairness and justice, is the most fundamental part of who I am and how I approach work, relationships, and the world.

Superpower? Relentless and unapologetic prioritizing. Life is busy and complicated and one of my greatest fears is feeling like you are getting lost in the day to day. It’s good and ok and healthy to say no, to opt out of activities and take a beat so that you have room to think about and explore your passion and interests.

Connect with Shafaq!

Finally, where can readers find you if they want to reach out?

Check out my Instagram Shafaq_khan_author and my Tiktok at shafaqjk or my website shafaqkhan.com.

Katie: Thanks so much, Shafaq! Zeyna Lost and Found was published this week, and you can find it at a library, bookstore, or indie near you. You won’t want to delay, or the Fifteen might get their hands on your copy first!

Biography of Shafaq Khan

Headshot of author Shafaq Khan

Shafaq is a mom and a lawyer. Born to Pakistani parents, Shafaq grew up in a small port city along the Persian Gulf called Jubail Industrial City. It doesn’t make it on most maps but it shaped her worldview and cemented her identity as a third-culture kid.

Shafaq attended college in NYC and then went to law school. After graduating, Shafaq worked at NYC nonprofits in Manhattan and Brooklyn for nearly a decade as a legal services attorney, representing low-income people with disabilities facing eviction and benefits issues. As part of her representation, Shafaq met clients in their homes to understand their lives, and learned to hold their truths with compassion while being a passionate advocate on their behalf in court. Through this experience, Shafaq became acquainted with people’s stories – the ones we tell and the ones we don’t – and learned to listen to the stories beneath the surface.

Shafaq lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Debut Author Interview: J.A. Dauber

By Ben Boche on September 5, 2025 / Author Interviews

Fall is when all the great books are released, so we are excited to welcome debut author J.A. Dauber to the blog. His debut, PRESS 1 FOR INVASION, is a perfect book for reluctant readers. It delivers on the humor front, and that combined with the impending alien invasion theme and icky, creepy monsters with tentacles (and icky, creepy monsters with tentacles who make out with each other!) makes this a slam-dunk for emerging readers looking for fun, fresh reads and who are not yet ready to tackle the heavier stuff.

Book Summary

Ten-year-old Matt really wants a phone, but his parents won’t let him have one. When he finds one just lying on the sidewalk, he naturally picks it up and claims it for himself. But when Matt uses his new phone to take pictures, they show the crossing guard in front of his school as a monster. But that can’t be right…can it?

Matt soon learns that: a) his lunch lady is also a monster (actually, an alien); b) an invasion of Earth is due to take place within the next few days; and c) the lunch lady is having cold feet (well, tentacles) about the whole thing and wants his help. Matt and his friend Marcela join forces with her to save the planet.

Battles in their school cafeteria and high above the Earth’s atmosphere place them in very close encounters with alien pets and the business end of a gigantic oven. As the danger mounts, Matt and Marcela must ask themselves what they’re willing to risk to save their friends, their family, and their world.

Interview

I have to say that this is every kids’ nightmare: finding out that their teachers/school workers are actually aliens. I have a distinct memory of a book from my childhood where the teachers turned out to be aliens and I devoured the book. Did you have a similar obsession as a kid and/or what inspired you to write this book?

I’m glad you feel like it’s got that universal appeal! While I’m not sure that I actually had the thought, or fear, or…even hope, I guess, that there were aliens among us, I was definitely fascinated by the prospect – which I guess is central to all sorts of the most fun fiction, in SF, fantasy, horror – that there’s another world that’s right beside us, a world that’s somehow fascinating and complicated and huge, that we don’t know about. (As I got older, I came to realize that we do have that world: it’s called Grownupland. It even has its own alien language – with words like “mortgage rates,” for example. But that was beyond me then, and even maybe when I started writing PRESS 1!)

I think you’ve hit upon kids’ natural obsessions with wanting a phone – but maybe not to see if aliens are roaming among us! Why did you decide to have the phone be a prominent part of the book?

The truth is, the book started with an image in my head, which was a kid looking through the phone camera and seeing a goggle-eyed alien monster in a crossing guard uniform – and then taking the phone away, and everything looking normal. To some extent, I wrote the book to figure out the story behind that image! Which meant asking, well, could every phone do that? Probably not. So why did this kid have that phone? Well, it wasn’t his, maybe. But then how, and why did he have it? And all sorts of things started to fall into place….

You have an interesting take on aliens being interested in our planet. Why did you choose them wanting to ****spoiler*** rather than anything else?

One central question about alien invasion books, stories, and movies – a tradition with a very distinguished heritage – is: why would they bother? Space is big; what would be worth coming all this way to invade Earth forth? The reasons make a big difference: not to whether our heroes stop the invasion – I will spoil the book to the extent that it does not end with Matt, Marcela, and the rest of their planetary neighbors reduced to a smoking cinder – but how they do it. And of course, that’s all the fun!

Despite the literal weight of saving the world on your main character’s, Matt’s, shoulders, he seems to take it all in stride and even has some amazing ideas along the way. What was your decision process like when crafting Matt?

It’s funny, because in some ways I’m not even sure it was a decision, exactly! I sort of followed him around in my head and tried to write down what he was doing as fast as I possibly could. It turned out I liked him a lot – he’s not perfect, which I think is kind of why – and I think and hope kids will like him, too!

What do you hope readers will take away from Press 1 For Invasion?

A deep and profound desire to tell all their friends that it’s an awesome book and they should get their own copy. (Slightly) more seriously, I hope that readers will just feel like they had a lot of fun. I remember – and I see in my own kids – that feeling, so hard to retrieve sometimes as a grown-up, of just being so lost in a book that the world around them kind of disappears: that’s an invasion, of a literary sort, and it’s the one kind I’m all for!

What was your favorite part about writing the book?

Honestly? When I thought of something funny, which is often the easiest thing to say “yeah, that’s gonna work. That should go in, and it’ll stay in til the end.” They didn’t always, but lots of times they did.

What are some of your favorite middle grade novels and why do you like them so much?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention James Ponti, who is not only a great author – I think his Sherlock Society does a remarkable job combining delightful characters with a strong sense of setting and a thoughtful take on history and mystery – but also a great guy: he’s agreed to appear at a bookstore with me to talk about our new books! I will also say that, given my own book’s subject matter, A WRINKLE IN TIME was deeply formative when I was Matt’s age, back in the mists of history.

Now that your book is out in the world, what’s the next step for you?

Well, I’m hopeful that Matt and Marcela’s adventures don’t necessarily come to an end here: of course, that depends on all you readers out there, so fingers crossed! I’m also finishing up a time travel novel (see above) that I think is a lot of fun, and I hope you’ll get to read that soon, too!

Is there anything else you want to share about Press 1 For Invasion or our audience of teachers, librarians, and middle grade authors?

Thank you for this opportunity! I’ll just end with this: in my day job as a professor, I’ve written a number of books prior to this, but this is the first book that any of my kids have read. I have three of them, ages 12, 10, and 7, boy, boy, girl, and the older two both read it. As all of you know, children – even and perhaps especially your own children – are not natural diplomats. (My 10 year old has recently learned the phrase “no offense,” which he then, correctly or not, understands as a get out of jail free card to speak even less diplomatically.) So the fact that the two boys both read the book – each in a single sitting, one staying up until late, literally reading with his light under the covers – and then the ten year old saying, “I think a lot of kids are going to like this” – well, forget about the New York Times. That’s the best review I’m ever going to get. And I hope that you, and the kids who you know, might feel the same way!

Author Spotlight: Kalyn Josephson

By Landra Jennings on September 4, 2025 / Author Interviews

In today’s Author Spotlight, Landra Jennings chats with author Kalyn Josephson about her new middle-grade novel, Ravenguard: A Ravenfall Novel (Random House Children’s Books, September 9), the conclusion to the Ravenfall series. Kalyn will talk about what she likes best about this novel and this series and will give us some hints about what’s coming next!

Book Summary:

A girl with psychic abilities and a boy with mysterious powers must unravel secrets and battle dark forces in order to save their world in the final Ravenfall adventure.

As whispers of winter beckon, Anna Ballinkay and Colin Pierce brace for change. The Ravenfall Inn, a magical nexus between worlds, is bustling with preparations for the Winter Solstice ball, which will bring together a mix of otherworldly guests and festive enchantments.

Amid the festivities, a young boy named Declan arrives and claims his new identity as a Raven, sparking a mission to rebuild the legendary Ravenguard.

While the inn buzzes with excitement, a sinister mystery unfolds: Supernatural beings are found lifeless, drained of their magic. As suspicion mounts, Anna, Colin, and their allies must uncover the cause before Ravenfall is destroyed.

Can the Ravenguard rise in time, or will the magic of Ravenfall be lost forever? Ancient legends stir and loyalties are tested in Kalyn Josephson’s thrilling series conclusion.

Interview with Kalyn Josephson

LJ: Welcome to the Mixed-Up Files, Kalyn! Thanks for joining us today.

KJ: Thank you for having me!

Ravenguard: A Ravenfall Novel

LJ: I am a big fan of the Ravenfall series and can’t wait to hear about this concluding novel. What challenges can we expect Anna and Colin and their friends and families to face in this next and final installment?

KJ: In addition to returning to everyone’s favorite inn, this book brings Colin’s and Anna’s journeys full-circle with the return of some threads everyone thought were tied up. RAVENGUARD delves back into Irish mythology, but like all the books in the series, the biggest challenges Anna and Colin face are their own doubts.

LJ: The characters are so well drawn-out, with so much humor. Who is your favorite character in the series, and why?

KJ: Max! I love how mischievous he is, and his rivalry with the inn is my favorite relationship.

LJ: There’s a lot of action in these novels to keep us on the edge of our seats. What was your favorite scene to write in Ravenguard?

KJ: The snowball fight at the beginning. I like how it brings all the characters from the series back together in a fun setting.

LJ: Especially for those readers who have followed along on this Ravenfall journey, what do you want readers to take away from this novel and the series as a whole?

KJ: So much of this series is about accepting yourself, which can be hard to do no matter what age you are, but especially during a time when you’re still trying to figure out who that is. It’s something Anna and Colin struggle with throughout, and that I hope readers can identify with and learn from. Embrace the weird!

On Writing

LJ: What do you like best about being a writer?

KJ: Making up magic systems. It’s where each of my books begin, and my favorite part of fantasy.

LJ: What advice would you give to writers just starting out?

KJ: Find other writers at the same stage you are. Writing can be so solitary, and having friends who understand the process can make all the difference.

What’s Coming Next?

LJ: Is there anything else you would like to share?

KJ: My next middle-grade series kicks off with THE GRIMLORE GAME, out Fall 2026. I like to pitch it as “What if Wednesday Addams and Eeyore had to team up to win the Inheritance Games?” It’s perfect for fans of puzzles, riddles, and hijinks!

Lightning Round Questions:

No MUF interview would be complete without our lightning round, so here we go…

Coffee or tea?

Tea!!!

Sunrise or sunset?

Sunset.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

The ability to fall asleep the moment I get into bed.

Favorite city (other than the one you live in)?

Donegal, Ireland.

Favorite ice cream flavor?

Cookies and cream, though I will accept all ice cream.

Favorite book from childhood?

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede.

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Kalyn!

About the Author

Kalyn Josephson is a NYT Bestselling author, sometimes-baker, and full-time consumer of too much tea. She lives on the California coast with two tiny black cats in a house in constant need of repair. She is the author of the Ravenfall series, The Storm Crow duology, and the This Dark Descent duology.

Author Interviews

Interview with Debut Middle Grade Author Shafaq Khan