Interview with Dr. Seema Yasmin

We are thrilled to interview Dr. Seema Yasmin today about her first book in her upcoming nonfiction chapter book series, Maysoon Zayid The Girl Who Can Can. 

Kidlit in Color:  What was your inspiration for Muslim Mavericks, Volume 1, Maysoon Zayid, the Girl Who Can Can?

Seema Yasmin:  The inspiration for this series was the exciting breadth of talent, personalities and experiences that exists within the Muslim community! I’m thrilled to tell the stories of comedians, athletes, and scientists through this series which is one of the first, if not the first, middle grade biographical series about Muslims. There are more than two billion of us on the planet, so there are a lot of amazing people to write about. I grew up wishing these books were on my bookshelf so that I could see myself reflected in literature.

KLiC: Please tell us about your writing process. How long did it take you to write and sell this book?

SY: My agent, Lilly Ghahremani, and I co-conspired on this series back in the summer of 2022 when we were lamenting the lack of books about Muslims. Lilly and I went back and forth on a proposal for the Muslim Mavericks series over the course of a few months and signed a deal with Simon and Schuster the following fall. Lilly is one of those rare agents who is as proficient in offering conceptual refinements and detailed line edits as she is in contract negotiations. The writing sample initially included in the proposal was about a different person, not Maysoon Zayid. But once the deal was in place, I had deeper discussions with my editor about who the first book in the series would be about and we landed on the legendary, incomparable Maysoon Zayid. 

KLiC: What are your favorite illustrations in the book?

SY:  I adore the pictures of Maysoon and her father. It was her father who would say “Yes, you can can,” to encourage young Maysoon to walk and dance and do her physical therapy exercises. Through my interviews with Maysoon, I learned about the warmth, kindness and dedication of this man and these elements were rendered beautifully by the illustrator, Noha Habaieb. 

KLiC: What’s the one thing you want children to take away from your book?

SY: That Muslims are not a monolith! There are 2 billion of us on the planet and we practice many versions of Islam—or no version at all (for those who consider themselves to be culturally Muslim). I hope the books empower and embolden young Muslim readers, and inspire all readers to understand how faith can play a role in shaping a person’s character and life story.

KLiC: What’s next for you?

SY: I am adapting my first YA novel, Unbecoming, into a movie; working on my second picture book, Inshallah [God-Willing], which will be published by Simon and Schuster in the next year or so; and I’m nervously awaiting edits on my second YA novel.

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SEEMA YASMIN is an Emmy Award–winning journalist who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, medical doctor, professor, and poet. She attended medical school at Cambridge University and worked as a disease detective for the USfederal government’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. She currently teaches storytelling at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a regular contributor to CNN, Self, and Scientific American, among others. She is also the author of What the Fact? Finding the Truth in All the Noise and Unbecoming.

​Learn more and order this book here.