Mischief Maker

In Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet, Omar and his family move to a new place. He must adjust to a new school, new classmates, and a terrible next-door neighbor. He also has to deal with a school bully. To cope, Omar turns to his silly imagination and his friend Charlie.

Zanib Mian wrote the book. She told TFK Kid Reporter Tyler Mitroff that her goal was to create a fun story that would make readers laugh. “The funny things that happen in the book are things that have happened in real life with my family or my friends,” she says. Like Omar, Mian is Muslim. She says she wants “kids from families like Omar’s to see themselves as the hero in a book—and for people from other backgrounds to learn something about what a Muslim family is like.”