“Operation Share Joy”: Saadia Faruqi & Renée Watson

Abby Apé serves as the director of outreach for the Brickell Homeowners Association and is a strong advocate for community and bringing people together. She, along with her family, also serves as a leader at Christ Fellowship Church in downtown Miami.

Renée Watson is the author of the novel Piecing Me Together, which received a Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award. Her other books include Ways to Make Sunshine, Ways to Grow Love, Some Places More Than Others, Betty Before X – co-written with Ilyasah Shabazz – and Watch Us Rise, co-written with Ellen Hagan. She is also the author of two picture books: A Place Where Hurricanes Happen and Harlem’s Little Blackbird, nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Ryan, the title character in A Ryan Hart Story #3: Ways to Share Joy (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), is caught in the middle. She has an older brother and a new baby sister, and she’s in a friendship tug-of-war with two friends who both want to be her best best friend. How can Ryan think about being kind to a classmate who is relentless with his teasing? Or be her signature sunny self when her brother, Ray, pulls the ultimate prank? But even when it seems like nothing is going her way, Ryan still looks for a way to see the bright side of things, refusing to let anything steal her joy and finding ways to share it with everyone she meets.

Saadia Faruqi is the author of the Yasmin series for early readers, and middle-grade novels including Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero and A Thousand Questions. She is also the co-author of the nonfiction The Wonders We Seek: Thirty Incredible Muslims Who Helped Shape The World. Faruqi was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States when she was 22. With Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party (Amulet Books), illustrated by Ani Bushry, Faruqi starts a new chapter book series about a third grader whose plans may backfire but whose persistence and heart are inspiring. Marya’s 8th birthday is coming up in a week, and all she wants is an over-the-top party just like the ones her rich neighbor, Alexa, always throws. When Alexa parades into school with fancy invitations, Marya responds by claiming she’s having the most epic henna party ever – now she just has to convince her family to make it happen. Marya’s siblings need help with their projects. Maybe she could cook dinner for her parents or clean her grandmother’s room? Nice ideas, except everything Marya does seems to end in disaster.