My English teacher once told twelve-year-old me that I had "the face of an owl" and that English wasn't for me.

I still have no idea what the owl part meant.

I still think about her sometimes-

Not because I hate her; I don't.

If you're reading this novel in English- then Allah willed otherwise.

Everything good in these pages came from Allah first.

The older I get  the more I realize that people can support or hurt you-but they don't get the final say in your story

That's something Allah does

And He has always been kinder to me than I deserved.

If by a miracle she ever reads this:

To you, Miss: The owl has now written a novel.

And if I'm good at English today-I can't honestly give you much credit for that.

May Allah forgive us both.



B.D. Zeinéb : builds stories that don't just end when you close the book- I can't get enough of stories about strength, and the quiet storms inside us all.