Medeia Sharif and Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.

Happy Friday! You may have noticed I didn't post on Wednesday. Bad me! I meant to, but it was thirty degrees in London, I was scoffing free cider by the river, and somehow afternoon turned into evening. By the time our West End theatre show let out, well, I wasn't in any fit state to be let loose onto the blogosphere!

Anyway. I'm here now. And I'm pleased to be hosting Medeia Sharif, author of Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. Since it's now Ramadan and I've been watching my step-daughter deal with fasting, it's a timely post!

Here's Almira Abdul, the main character:

My Holiday Wish List
By Almira Abdul

Not eating from sunrise to sunset is hard, so I made this list of things I’d like for the holy month.

1) Lipgloss: When I fast, my breath might stink. There’s no food or water to swish out all those nasty germs in my mouth. Breath mints would be considered cheating, and I don’t want to use

mouthwash because I might accidentally swallow some. So I’ll put on some lipgloss, especially

when Peter’s around. My favorite scent is strawberry.

2) Hot boy(s): I’ll be distracted from thoughts of food if I have someone good-looking to focus on. Sorry Mom and Dad, and I’m not getting rid of the screensavers of my favorite Hollywood men.

3) A bestest friend who understands what I’m going through: My “good” friend Maria does her best to tempt me with her stupid Twinkies, but my bestest friend Lisa stands by my side. She knows I’m fasting for an important religious reason and she’s proud that I’m doing this! And I hope she’ll continue to support me, because behind her back I’m sort of doing something that might tick her off.

4) Earplugs: I don’t have these, but I seriously should get some. Grandpa yacks in my ear about

how I cheated during last Ramadan. Yes, I snuck in some chocolate wafers. He caught me red-handed since I didn’t wipe all the crumbs off my mouth. I was a bad person and weak-willed, but I’m doing really well this Ramadan. He needs to get over himself.

5) Good religious thoughts: Sometimes I feel guilty about thinking about boys and kissing them, and how I’m dropping a few pounds since I can’t eat during the daylight hours (loving the new body), but I do think about religious stuff and doing the right thing and getting into heaven.

I hope this helps you understand what I’m going through. My IM name is AlmiraRules if you’d like to contact me.

Book Description:

During Ramadan, we’re not allowed to eat from sunrise to sunset, for a whole month. My family does this every year, even though I’ve been to a mosque exactly twice in my fifteen years. My exercise-obsessed mom—whose hotness skipped a generation, sadly—says I could stand to lose a few. But is torture really an acceptable method? I think not.
Things wouldn’t be so bad if I had a boyfriend, but my oppressive parents forbid me to date. This is just cruel and wrong. Especially since Peter, a cute and crushable artist, might be my soul mate. Figures my bestest friend Lisa likes him, too.

To top it off, there’s a new Muslim girl in school who struts around in super-short skirts, comma

nding every boy’s attention—including Peter’s. How can I get him to notice me? And will I ever feel like a typical American girl?

About the author:

Medeia Sharif is a high school English teacher residing in Miami Beach. Her young adult debut novel BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. was released July 2011. You can find out more about her by

visitinghttp://www.sharifwrites.com/ and http://www.twitter.com/sharifwrites.

Thank you, Medeia! Happy weekend, all.