Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, teaches ELA at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.

I had the opportunity to interview Shifa, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Hi! Thank you so much for having me!

Absolutely, my name is Shifa Saltagi Safadi. I am an author, book reviewer, educator, and mom of four beautiful kiddos.

I was born in Syria and immigrated with my parents to the US when I was a little girl. I grew up in the Midwest, and my books are inspired by my own experiences as a Syrian American.

I love reading books, and review so many of my faves on my Instagram. But the main passion in my life is writing!!

My debut middle grade novel KAREEM BETWEEN comes out with Penguin Kids on September 10^th and I am so excited!

What can you tell us about your debut book, Kareem Between? What was the inspiration for this story?

Kareem Between is a story about a Syrian American middle school boy who wants one thing: to make his middle school football team (and see his favorite team, the Chicago Bears win the Superbowl ).

However- life throws him for a loop.

His best friend moves away, he fumbles tryouts, and his mom asks him to help a Syrian refugee around the school. The son of the football coach (and star quarterback) teases the new kid- and Kareem distances himself from his own identity to try to fit in and make the Spring Squad.

But when his mother travels to Syria to bring his grandparents back, and she gets stranded there due to the Muslim Ban of 2017, and Kareem is shaken to his core.

He has to examine his own actions and step into his identity (and activism) to find victory!

The inspiration behind this story comes from my own feelings growing up. Being a Syrian and an American and growing up after 9/11, I struggled for a very long time to come to terms with how society views me, verses how I view myself.

Kids want to fit in, and I remember feeling like, if I don’t belong, then I don’t matter.

It took me until I became an adult to realize that it is okay to have multicultural experiences, and that I don’t have to be accepted by everyone to feel confident in who I am.

I have to find my pride within- and I hope that inspires children to find that pride in their selves as well.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially middle grade fiction and novels in verse?

As a reader first- I have long appreciated the power of storytelling. When I finish a book, I feel empowered, more educated, and inspired. And I craved providing those same feelings to other readers, and specifically kids!

Growing up without Muslim books around me, and feeling that void, made me want to provide Muslim books to the public. My intention is truly to provide both mirrors and windows to readers- to help society be better through my written words!

Fiction can often, in my opinion, be so powerful. Showing main character struggles can spark empathy and kindness within readers that may not be felt the same when just reading about a certain action/moment. For example, with the Muslim ban- showing Kareem’s heart wrenching experience with how this executive order affected his family will drive the point home at how this law was unfair and wrong. The emotions on the page will stay with the reader after they close the book. And the power of storytelling is that contemporary fiction can inform a reader of many VERY REAL moments of people’s lives, and so knowing that this story COULD be true just helps readers to fully realize the impact of these moments in history on real people.

As for verse- I just adore poetry. I was able to use poetry to infuse emotion and visual art in the story of Kareem.

Writing the Arabic moments from right to left and the English moments from left to right helps the reader fully absorb that Kareem bounces between these two worlds, and seeing them merge into a trophy on the last poem of the book helps show this victory to the reader in a visual form.

Verse lends itself to the writer as a unique tool to show the reader more meaning through how the words are placed on the page. And I loved that artistic ability.

I also love how verse is accessible for reluctant readers. Having blank space on the page is comforting to the eye and helpful for readers who like to flip pages quickly and finish quicker books!

How would you describe your writing process?

My writing process is different for each book, honestly.

For Kareem Between, I started with an idea.

Then began writing by plotting the story out, and afterwards crafting Kareem as a complicated character with flaws and an emotional arc.

Then I went ahead and drafted the book- which was in prose at first!

The complicated part was figuring out it worked better in verse!

Then I revised it over and over.

Each time I revised, I replotted, changed scenes, rewrote verse, and added more character details.

While the result is a much better book- it takes a lot of time, energy, and grit to keep going until the final draft is polished!

Then I sent it to my agent, and then my editor- and each step had more and more revisions! The magic really comes in at this step.

I am so proud of the finished version- it is better written and more impactful with all the wonderful feedback from the amazing TEAM of Kareem Between!

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult? 

My favorite elements, and the most magical, is revision! Once a first draft is done, I have a stronger drive to push myself further as a writer and make my writing even better and better.

Having the draft finished is helpful because then you can just focus on specific moments in revision and improve one literary element at a time, which I enjoy doing. I also love getting my editor’s feedback, because her magical notes always spark my brain to improve the book and I love seeing how the book transforms into a better version of itself! 

My most frustrating moments are the first moments of drafting and plotting. The fear of not being able to come up with a new idea is something I still struggle with- I wish I could just kick imposter syndrome to the curb! I also feel this pull to see the finished manuscript, and so this makes me overwork my brain until the draft is finished so quickly- and at times, too quickly- which causes me to have a brain burn out for a while!

However, once it is done, I feel so happy- because then I have a finished manuscript to shape and polish and revise until it becomes beautiful.

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

I love FOOD! I love to eat different cuisines and to try different recipes, and cooking is actually something I am really good at, so I like to do copycat recipes from my favorite restaurants at home. My current favorite obsession is fried zucchini slices with homemade ranch- I cannot stop eating them!

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

I like to be asked what my favorite book of all time is!

And that happens to be The Crossover by Kwame Alexander!!

What advice might you have to give for aspiring writers?

Writing is a journey. The books you see published were not written perfectly as such. Every first draft starts out incomplete- and each draft faces revision after revision until the book gets better and better.

So do not give up hope. Keep studying craft and revising your book- and one day, it will find its home!!

And if one book does not work out, write another! I have two middle grades that I wrote years ago that I shelved. They were never ready. But they had to come out for me to move on and write Kareem Between!

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

YES! I have a picture book titled The Gift of Eid coming out in February of 2025. And I have a chapter book series titled Amina Banana – two books in May of 2025 and two books in the fall of 2025.

I am so excited about both.

The Gift of Eid is a picture book retelling of the beautiful story The Gift of the Magi by O’Henry. It is magical, beautifully illustrated, and so heartfelt.

Amina Banana is a STEM chapter book series about a Syrian refugee settling in Indiana- and I loved writing her sass and smartness as she navigates new friendships and a whole new world! And the STEM is going to be adored by educators!

Finally, what books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

Some of my favorite Muslim middle grade books are Any Way You Look by Maleeha Siddiqui and all of the beautiful novels in verse by Reem Faruqi- Unsettled, Call Me Adnan, and Golden Girl!

I also love M.T. Khan’s Muslim middle grade fantasy!

Thank you so much for having me!