Middle School Student's Book Wins Literature Award

ROUND ROCK, TX -- A Round Rock middle school student has gained national attention after a book she co-wrote about a special friendship garnered a national literature award.

Canyon Vista Middle School 6th grader Aanyah Abdullah wrote a book with her mom titled My Friend Suhana. The book details the girl’s friendship with another Round Rock student afflicted with cerebral palsy.

The book was recently named the winner of the 2016 Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award. The competition is designed to promote literature portraying people living with a disability.

Suddenly, the mother-and-daughter scribes are the toast of the town. The two have been making the rounds of interviews with various media outlets.

“This message of friendship and hope and love really needed to be told,” the older Abdullah told CBS 19 in Tyler.

The younger writer recounted meeting the friend that inspired her story. Even while unable to walk and talk, Aanyah’s friend had a smile on her face the day the two met.

That was the moment Aanyah knew she wanted to be her friend, she told a reporter.

“She was laughing,” she said. “I thought maybe she could be my friend. I thought maybe we should be more accepting to kids with disabilities.”

Little did she know then her new friend would become her muse.

“My friend Suhana is like no other girl I know,” the book begins. “She does not answer when I call her. She does not play tag or hopscotch with me, and she does not ride a bike.

“We never have a play date.”

Despite such differences, the two little girls have developed a strong bond over the course of their four-year friendship..

“You can too be friends with people with disabilities,” the younger writer told the television station. “Even though they might not be able to respond in the way that you’re used to, they can still be your friend.”

An award winner in her own right, Aanyah’s mom is a noted Pakistani-American author, writer and designer. Her writing largely centers on the Pakistani experience, specifically in the lives of women, negotiating a duality of cultures.

Her award-winning novel Saffron Dreams, for example, examines the tragedy of 9/11 from the perspective of a Muslim widow.

Shaila Adullah’s works are now required or recommended reading at many academic institutions.

Her new collaborator (mom and daughter worked together on the book’s text and illustrations) said she was excited to learn My Friend Suhara had won an award.

“I was very honored and I was excited,” Aanyah said. “I thought Suhana’s family would be very proud.”

For Shaila Abdullah, the award will be added to a mantle that already includes the Patras Bukhari Award for English Language, the Golden Quill Award, Norumbega Jury Prize for Outstanding Fiction and others.

But clearly, there’s now another writer in the Abdullah family.

“They have this beautiful friendship that is based on love,” the elder Abdullah said of her young co-author. “Sometimes friendship doesn’t need words.”

My Friend Suhana is available at Book People (603 N. Lamar Blvd.), Barnes and Noble locations, Amazon and on Kindle.