Rania

by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Rania drives herself too hard, takes on too much. School work, school captain, a huge art project - there's so much on her plate right now that it's starting to overwhelm her.

The last thing she needs is competition from her favourite cousin - families are supposed to stick together!

The Book of You has messages from the ghost girl just for Rania - if only she could work out what they mean...

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2014

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

[Rania T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally, a book with my name in the title. I was always one of those kids that was always disappointed because I could never find my name tag in shop displays. This book will appeal to the year 4 to year 7 age group, and is an improvement on the first book in the series, 'Jodie.' I also feel that this time around the author has been quite inspired by real people/events taking place in schools in North West Sydney, particularly in the Hills District.

[Hannah Elms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, it reminded me a bit of myself and it made me super happy.

[Reneepurple · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book it's great.

[Jacqui · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really enjoying this series. It's a kid's book but it is easy to read and still holds my attention.

[Nell Ewens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit like babysitters Club, but with a touch of magic. Dragon gruls, without dragons.