The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover

The Friendship Matchmaker #2

by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Lara's friendship matchmaking days are over now that she has an Official Best Friend (OBF) in Tanya. But when when a new boy named Majur transfers to their grade and outplays Chris Martin, the school bully, on the soccer field, Chris's rule is suddenly over. Now alone and unable to make friends on his own, Chris turns to Lara Zany who can't resist the challenge. Finding Chris a friend isn't her only challenge-Lara must balance her new friendship with Tany and Emily, plus make sure Majur, a refugee from Sudan, fits in. Lara Zany has her work cut out for her in this charming sequel about finding true friends despite big differences.

183 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Randa Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney in 1979. She is a Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage. She grew up in Melbourne and attended a Catholic primary school and Islamic secondary college where she obtained an International Baccaularetate. She studied Arts/Law at Melbourne University during which time she was the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic council of Victoria, a role which afforded her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about their representation of Muslims and Islam.

During university and her role at the ICV, Randa was a passionate human rights advocate and stood in the 1996 federal election as a member of the Unity Party-Say No To Hanson. Randa has also been deeply interested in inter-faith dialogue and has been a member of various inter-faith networks. She also volunteered with different human rights and migrant resource organisations including the Australian Arabic council, the Victorian migrant resource centre, Islamic women’s welfare council, Palestine human rights campaign, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, to name a few.

Randa has used her writing as a medium for expressing her views about the occupation of Palestine. Her articles about Palestine, Australian Muslims and the misunderstood status of women in Islam have been published in the Australian, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Canberra Times, New Matilda, Le Monde (France).

Randa is frequently sought for comment by the media on issues pertaining to Palestine, Islam or Australian Muslims. She has appeared on SBS’s Insight, ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club, ABC’s Q & A, Channel 7’s Sunrise and Channel 10’s 9am.

Randa is also a regular guest at schools around Australia addressing students about her books and the social justice issues they raise. Randa has also been a guest at Sweden’s Gothenburg and Litterlund book festivals (2007 and 2008) and Kuala Lumpur’s Book festival (2008). She has also toured in Brunei and the UK.

Randa lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children. She works as a litigation lawyer.

Reviews

[Riverina Regional Library]

Members of Riverina Regional Library reserve your copy now

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to The Friendship Matchmaker, can be enjoyed as a series or on its own, especially by girls who prefer realistic school fiction with lots of social drama.

[Kiran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undercover
Really
Cool