Inspiration Behind The Book By Khadijah VanBrakle

By Khadijah VanBrakle

My Perfect Family is a story born out of love.As both an author and an avid reader, I’m drawn to books that include fraught mother/daughter relationships. My love of the Gilmore Girls inspired me to write my sophomore novel that follows a fractured, Black American Muslim family.

I strongly believe that every teen deserves to see themselves within the pages of a book. In 2017, when my youngest daughter asked why someone who looked like her and had a similar lived experience wasn’t the protagonist in any traditionally-published, contemporary young adult novels, we had to have a tough conversation.

Today, there are fewer than five books I can find that fit that description.My 2023 young adult debut, Fatima Tate Takes The Cake, is among those books.

This reality still drives me to write stories about teens who share my dual marginalization. Coming-of-age novels, I believe, are a wonderful way for teens to see fictionalized characters going through universal experiences that they or any one of their friends could face. Even if the themes in a particular book aren’t something a teenager is familiar with, reading about someone different from yourself can build empathy.

My Perfect Family touches on many themes, including family, identity, and cultural/religious differences. In telling this story, I wanted to show how the main character getting what she always wanted (a big family) threatened her relationship with her only-living parent. Sixteen-year-old Leena’s strong bond with her single mother is tested when some deeply-buried family secrets come to light.

Rather than plot-driven narratives, I love to write character-driven stories—dropping readers into the head of the protagonist. I did a ton of pre-work before starting to write this book, in order to begin to create a fully-formed main character who’s facing an impossible choice. While drafting My Perfect Family, I made sure Leena sounded and felt like a real person. She isn’t perfect and at her age, isn’t supposed to be.

Exploring more difficult themes in my books is one of my favorite things to do.Why? Because they mirror real life.Today, young adults face a lot more challenges than generations before. With the internet, social media and all the technological advancements, it’s harder than ever. Add in the additional scrutiny of pervasive book bans and getting diverse young adult literature into the hands of its target, teen audience sometimes feels like an uphill climb.But I’m committed to continuing to tell authentic stories.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of authors face some degree of negativity from those who didn’t like their books, the subject matter within those books or even their writing style. I am no exception.But I’ve made it my policy to ignore the naysayers. 

Embracing the support of readers, teachers, librarians and even some high school students from across the country helps me focus on the positive impact my writing can have. My focus is always to tell a compelling story.

My Perfect Family is set in Albuquerque. It’s an amazing feeling to be able to include where you  actually live in your books. It adds authenticity to the story and helps someone who’s never been to New Mexico to get a sense of what it’s like to live here. My protagonist even takes the Rail Runner Express and visits the capital city. While drafting, part of my research process involved riding that commuter train between Albuquerque and Santa Fe myself. 

So much around me feeds my imagination and inspires me to continue writing.

When the main character, Leena, learns that her long-lost family are practicing Muslims and her own mother was raised in that faith tradition, she has a ton of questions. Readers unfamiliar with Islam are able to learn as Leena does. 

Part of my desire to tell stories featuring Black American Muslim teens is to be able to introduce readers to how similar and also sometimes different others’ lives and experiences can be. I believe in today’s challenging times, it’s crucial to find commonality among people.

Fiction can be part of that much-needed bridge.

I was also inspired to write MPF to highlight situations when finally getting what you’ve always wanted isn’t the wonderful thing you imagined. With her newly-found grandfather and great aunt on one side and the single mother who’s raising her on the other, Leena is caught in the middle. The sixteen-year-old didn’t expect that the drama surrounding a family secret older than herself would affect every aspect of her life. 

My Perfect Family is a story I needed to write and am proud to have written. It’s a privilege to be able to share it with others. To those whose passion fuels and inspires their desire to write but they’re riddled with self-doubt, please know that if someone like me with an Accounting background can do it, you can too.

Being a traditionally-published author, as a Muslim woman of color, isn’t an easy road to take. But if my books can spark needed conversations inside and outside my faith community, in addition to inspiring others to tell their own stories, it’s worth it to me.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Khadijah VanBrakle is an award-winning author who writes coming-of-age stories about Black American Muslim teens, a dual marginalization that she shares. She was born and raised in Canada to American parents. Khadijah’s debut, Fatima Tate Takes The Cake, was a 2024 NAACP Image Awards finalist in the Outstanding Youth/Teens literature category. She’s a mom of five and lives in New Mexico with her family.

MY PERFECT FAMILY

Sixteen-year-old Leena has always wished for a big family… but when she discovers she has a Muslim grandfather and aunt she never knew, she learns that family comes with tangled histories she may not be able to heal.

“Lonely Leena” is close with her young single mother. Still, she’s always secretly dreamed of more (and, when she was a kid, asked Santa for it). A huge family to cheer her on at graduation. A gaggle of smiling faces at the holidays. But one call from the hospital, and her mother’s hidden past comes to light: Her grandfather is in the ER, and her aunt is with him in recovery. Sorry—her WHO?

But with family comes family secrets—Leena’s mom’s, and as Leena grows close with her new family behind her mother’s back, her own. Leena’s mom warns that Leena’s grandfather Tariq’s financial generosity doesn’t come without strings attached… like Leena converting to Islam, fighting for a spot at a top university, and adhering to the restrictive rules that she ran from all those years ago. Leena isn’t sure who to trust, yet she’s certain that she adores Tariq and her mom—and that she’s the only one who could heal old hurts. After so many years, is it even possible? And if she can’t, will she have to choose between them?

A big family was the dream, but all this drama isn’t.

Warm, witty, and sometimes serious, My Perfect Family is a poignant intergenerational narrative that gives voice to Black Muslim women. A thoughtful examination of the intersection between gender and religion, Khadijah VanBrakle’s sophomore novel is a heartfelt tale of forging one’s own path… while loving those who stay by your side.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing