This Story Is Hers

There once was a boy named Abdul. He loved to read books.

He noticed that he almost never saw someone who looked like him in those books.

Abdul grew up in an apartment complex in West Haven. He noticed that he almost never saw anyone in his books who looked like his neighbors.

Abdul had a baby sister named Aisha. He loved her very much.

He almost never saw anyone who looked like Aisha in his books.

Abdul grew up and went to Yale University. He needed to do a senior project to graduate. He decided to find out why children’s books rarely had characters he could recognize from his own childhood.

He read a lot of books. He found articles and old documents about books.

He told his classmates about his project. He told them he wanted to interview publishers to learn more.

“My aunt works for Penguin Random House!” one classmate said. The classmate helped Abdul get in touch with the aunt.

Random House is a big company that publishes children’s books.

The aunt agreed to speak with Abdul. He asked her a lot of questions. He learned a lot.

Abdul told her he wanted to write a book as part of his project. She said she would give him advice about that too.

Abdul decided to write a book about people who look like him and his neighbors and his sister Aisha. He decided to write a story they could understand from their own lives.

He made the story about a little girl growing up in an apartment complex. The complex had a courtyard. It looked like the complex where Abdul grew up. Kids play double Dutch in the courtyard along with the sound of hip hop coming from inside the apartments. They sit on porches at night and point to the Big Dipper.

Abdul’s book is about a little girl at the apartment complex who plays hide and seek with the moon. She dances with the moon too.

The girl’s name is Amani. Abdul was thinking of his sister Aisha when he created the character. Amani’s story is Aisha’s story. It is about her world.

Abdul finished writing the book. He finished his project. He finished going to Yale.

The editor at Penguin Random House had a surprise for him. The company decided to publish his book. It found an artist named Keturah A. Bobo to make the pictures.

So now children have a new book to read. It is called The Night Is Yours. It is the kind of book Abdul wanted to read as a child.

The book just got published. I think parents all over the country will read this book to their children. I look forward to reading it to my grandson.

Abdul read the book to a bunch of people at the Yale Bookstore. Aisha came with him.

People bought the book. People asked Abdul to write his name in it.

Then they asked Aisha to sign it too.

Aisha is not a little girl anymore. Abdul still loves to be with her.

Abdul has a lot of ideas. He wants to write more books. He wants to help children. He wants to be a part of cities like New Haven. He lives in a neighborhood in New Haven called Wooster Square. He can walk to work.

He works at an agency called LEAP. LEAP gives young people a lot to do. Swimming. Homework. Computers. They read a lot of books there.

The children at LEAP are reading his book! They are proud of Abdul. They look at him the way that Amani looks at the Big Dipper.

Abdul found time to come on the radio to talk about his book and about why it’s important to have stories about children who are like Aisha. He also talked about his life. You can listen to what he said by clicking on this video.

You can buy his book here or at a local bookstore.