 I'm so excited to be here with all of you. Ramadan Mubarak to everyone who's observing, and I thought I would share a few images from some of my picture books that share some of the things that I love about Ramadan, and then I have a special new book to share with you. I'm going to share my screen with you real quick and show you. So I've tried to write about Ramadan actually in many of my books. The very first book that I ever wrote Night of the Moon which came out a long time ago is all about the month of Ramadan. And then I went on to write these picture books that all have some mention of Ramadan in them. So I thought I'd show you some of the pictures from all of these books. Of course, as Naz mentioned, and as Meena started off started us off with fasting is a big part of Ramadan. So that's something I include in my book, as well as, you know, watching the moon to know that Ramadan is beginning since it is a month in the lunar calendar. And the early morning meal that we have at sunrise, we call Sohor. And so these are some delicious figs that's that saving for Sohor. I had some oatmeal this morning. They didn't have any delicious things. And at the end of the day when it's when the sun is setting and it's time to break fast, we enjoy some delicious dates. It's tradition to eat yummy dates like these, which I just want to reach in and grab one right now. And the meal that we have at sunset time is called Iftar, a time for family and togetherness and enjoying special food sometimes that we save especially for Ramadan. Lots of families have different Ramadan traditions. And it is a time for sharing, as Naz mentioned, for being with friends and family like we are right now. And people of all backgrounds coming together to enjoy Iftar. And here we see Curious George and the man with the yellow hat breaking fast with their Muslim friends. And some of the other traditions that are really important during Ramadan are things around learning, right? Since the Ramadan is the month when the Quran was first revealed to us, it's important to study and learn the Quran like you see this little girl doing here with her grandma. And here on this page we see an actual page of the Quran and a surah, a verse, a chapter of the Quran that a boy is memorizing. It's also important during Ramadan to give in charity and to share with others who may need things. And so here we see a collection of toys and gifts of Sadaka and of course Zakat, which all Muslims are required to give a portion of what they have to people who might eat it. And a lot of people give their Zakat during Ramadan and on Eid to spread extra blessings. And here is one of my favorite pictures from Night of the Moon, which is when the family is going to the mosque for nightly prayers, but also taking along some cupcakes to share with everyone. So lots of community and sharing and togetherness during Ramadan are things that I wanted to emphasize and share with you here. But I know I'm talking about the theme of belonging and welcoming each other. And that is something that I also write about in chapter books. And Amina Song is a sequel to a book I wrote called Amina's Voice, where a lot of the theme of the book is belonging and where we fit in the world and how we make room for all the people we love and all the places we love in our heart and get people to understand all those pieces of us and who we really are inside. And I also have a brand new series that's about to launch next week. So next Tuesday, this book will be born. I'm having what we call a book birthday, which is when a book is launched into the world. And this is the first book in a brand new series called Zara's Rules. And the first book is called Zara's Rules for Record Breaking Fun. So I thought I'd give you a sneak peek into this book, which also talks about welcoming and belonging and a lot of the story is set around, actually, the whole series, a lot of it is set around Zara's neighborhood and her friendships and her community. And a lot of it is based on the neighborhood that I grew up in, which is actually not far from where I live right now. And the friendships that I made, including very special friends who moved in across the street from me when I was growing up, a Jewish family who I dedicated this book to and who I'm still very, very close to. So the fictional family in this book named the Goldsteins is inspired by my dear friends and my friend, Naomi, who I grew up with. And the girl in this book is also named Naomi, who becomes one of Zara's special friends. But this is the beginning of the book when Zara and her neighborhood friends realize that a new family of moving into the neighborhood and they've just spotted the moving truck and they've seen the kids get out of the moving truck and go into their new home. And they're a bit sad that the neighbor that they've loved for so long, Mr. Chapman, who always had the best lemonade and was always telling funny jokes and hanging out with the kids, he's moving away. And so they're a little, Zara's a bit nervous about who these new neighbors are. So I'm going to read a bit of chapter three to you. And other characters in the chapter are Zara's grandparents, Nano and Nanabu, her parents and her younger brother, Zade, who if you've ever read my Zade Celine series, it's the same family and the same brother. The new people are moving in, I tell Mama and Nano as I burst into the kitchen. They are sitting at the table together drinking chai, same ones from yesterday. We saw them from the window, Mama says, and they have kids after all. Too bad Chapman left. He was a good man, Nano shakes her head sadly. A very kind chap, Nanabu adds from the sofa, then he chuckles at his own joke. My grandparents used to say hello to Mr. Chapman whenever they visited us. Sometimes Nanabu went on walks with him and sat with him on his porch. When Mr. Chapman left, Nano packed him a cooler of parathas and kebabs in case he couldn't find any in Florida. We should take something over to the new neighbors to welcome them, Mama suggests. Samosas, Nano says, I can fry some right now. How about cookies, I ask. Everybody likes cookies. Nano wringles her nose. Cookies, shookies. They can buy cookies from the store, but not my homemade samosas. I want cookies, Zade says. Come here, Nano waves Zade over to her and he crawls onto her lap. Tell me, what does my skinny mouse want? You need some meat on these bones, I will make you whatever you like Nano offers. Cookies, Zade repeats. Now that Nano wants them. Nano, now that Zade wants them, sorry. Nano takes the suggestion seriously. Maybe I can make Nanjabai, special Pakistani cookies, then you can take some to the neighbors too. Mama brightens. Ooh, you haven't made Nanjabai in years. Anything my Zabe wants, Nano coos. Zade's so skinny. His arms are like toothpicks and everyone is obsessed with feeding him. But no one else as much as our grandmother. And Zade eats it up. The attention that is. When it comes to food, there's only a few types that he'll eat happily. Plain rice, plain pasta, plain paratha, plain pizza, chicken nuggets, Captain Crunch and cookies. And then the family goes on to make the cookies. And I'm going to skip ahead to when they're done. Mama ranges the Nanjabai on a plate, covers them with foil and hands the plate to me. Do you want to take these over? She asks. My stomach flip flops a little at the idea of knocking on the new people's door. But I grabbed the plate anyway. They should probably know who I am. Zade thinks she's the queen of the neighborhood since that's what Mr. Chapman used to call her. I hold up my head and march out of the house and across the driveway, ignoring the urge to run back home. When I get to the door, someone opens it before I even knock. It's the woman. Well, hello, the woman's lips stretch into a toothy smile. You must be our neighbor. Come on in. What is this? Is this for us? How lovely. Thank you so much. She doesn't stop talking and she takes the plate from my hand and ushers me into the house. I stand in the entryway, unsure what to do next. Should I take off my shoes? I ask, thinking about what I would do in my own house. If you'd like, make yourself at home. Don't mind all the boxes the woman says laughing. It's going to take us a while to unpack. We're the Goldsteins. Where do you live, sweetheart? Naomi, Michael, come say hello to our new neighbor. I point to our house across the street while Mrs. Goldstein puts the cookies down on the kitchen counter. Naomi peeks her head up from the hallway upstairs and then she slinks down the stairs. Hi, she says. What's your name? Zahra. How old are you? Naomi circles me, staring at me intently. Ten and three quarters. What about you? I just turned 10. Oh, how wonderful, Mrs. Goldstein yells from the kitchen. You're the same age. Where do you go to school, Zahra? Brisk River Elementary School. Naomi and Michael will be going to the Jewish J School, but I'm sure you'll have lots of fun in the neighborhood, Mrs. Goldstein replies. Naomi nods like she's deciding what to think about that. Who are those other kids, Naomi asks, which means she saw the rest of the gang when we were hiding. Melvin Fu was a cute little one with the spiky hair. Alan Goodman is the other boy. He plays all sports and has three cats. Jade Thomas and Gloria Thomas are sisters. Jade is older, but they act like twins, except Zaid is into fashion and making stuff and Gloria loves reading and biking. Oh, and then there's Zaid Selene, my little brother. That's a lot of kids, Naomi says, and then falls silent. I guess, I say, slipping my shoes back on. Well, see you later. I hope you like the cookies. As I leave, I hear Mrs. Goldstein whisper, see, I told you there'd be nice people living here. You're going to be fine. And then it hits me. Maybe the new people are as nervous about all of them, all of us as we are about them. And that's the end of chapter three. And you'll have to read on if you want to know what Zahra does to welcome her neighbor further and how she concocts this kind of nutty plan to make sure she stays clean of the neighborhood by breaking a Guinness World Record. But the theme of friendship and family and community and belonging is really something that is important to me and something I try to write about in all of my books. And I do love the chance to explore different characters and how they make connections and form these bonds. And I hope that my readers will connect to my stories and feel like they're a part of the action and a part of these characters and their lives and hopefully learn from each other. And just like the goals of shoulder to shoulder, to see how much we all really do have in common with each other, even as we share our different traditions and our different backgrounds and cultures and faith traditions. So thank you for inviting me here today.