Karuna Riazi – författare

“Destined to be a new classic.” —School Library Journal (starred review)“This story will find its way into your heart.”—Tae Keller, Newbery Medalist for When You Trap a TigerWhat might happen when an overlooked orphan feels the sudden urge to put down roots? This tender coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and new beginnings is a reimagining of the classic The Secret Garden. Perfect for fans of Other Words for Home and The Bridge Home. For as long as she can remember, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives. And it never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her parents offer to “give her a better life” in the United States, Maria is shipped to a host family across the world. Her new home is full of surprises. Perhaps the biggest is the almost-hidden gate to an off-limits garden. Since she’s never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate and discovers something she never thought she’d find: a place where she belongs.Told in rich prose interspersed with evocative free verse poetry, this tender yet incisive reimagining of The Secret Garden will captivate fans of the classic—and widen the appeal for a modern audience. For fans of Karina Yan Glaser, Laura Amy Schlitz, and Chanel Miller.“As timeless as it is timely, A Bit of Earth is a rare gift.”—Laurel Snyder, author of National Book Award nominee Orphan Island“Extraordinary, poetic, and inventive. A Bit of Earth is such a special book.”—Jasmine Warga, author of Newbery Honor book Other Words for Home

Karuna Riazi has a way with words. This story will find its way into your heart.Tae Keller, Newbery Medalist for When You Trap a TigerAs timeless as it is timely, A Bit of Earth is a rare gift.Laurel Snyder, author of National Book Award nominee Orphan IslandExtraordinary, poetic, and inventive. A Bit of Earth is such a special book. Prickles and all,Maria Latifcaptured my whole heart.Jasmine Warga, author of Newbery Honor book Other Words for HomeAn ambitious re-envisioning of a long beloved classic, this book is sure to be a big hit.Padma Venkatraman, award-winning author of The Bridge HomeBeautiful! Simply beautiful! My heart needed this!Ellen Oh, author of Finding Junie KimA sweet and warm-hearted tale with unforgettable characters.Aisha Saeed, bestselling author of Amal UnboundMaria Latif is used to not having a space of her own. But what happens when she feels the sudden urge to put down roots in the most unexpected of places? Karuna Riazi crafts a tender coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and new beginnings. A Bit of Earth is a reimagining of the classicThe Secret Garden,perfect for fans ofOther Words for HomeandThe Bridge Home.Growing up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as long as she can rememberfirst because of her parents constant travel, and then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult child, and it never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her parents offer to give her a better life in the United States, Maria is shipped to a host family across the world.When Maria arrives on Long Island, things are not quite what she was expecting. Mr. Clayborne has left on an extended business trip, Mrs. Clayborne seems emotionally fraught, and inexplicable things keep happening in the Claybornes sprawling house. And then Maria finds a locked gate to an off-limits garden. Since shes never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate and discovers something she never thought shed find: a place where she feels at home.With a prickly main character, a sullen boy, two friendly allies, and a locked garden,A Bit of Earthhas everything a reader could want from a retelling ofThe Secret Garden. Karuna Riazis evocative prose is interspersed with poetic verses, illuminating each characters search for a place they can truly call home. This tender yet incisive reimagining of a classic work will captivate fans of the originaland widen the appeal for a modern audience.

Fourteen acclaimed authors showcase the beautiful and diverse ways holidays are observed in this festive anthology. Keep the celebrations going all year long with this captivating and joyful read!From Lunar New Year to Solstice, Día de Los Muertos to Juneteenth, and all the incredible days in between, it’s clear that Americans don’t just have one holiday. Edited by the esteemed Dahlia Adler and authored by creators who have lived these festive experiences firsthand, this joyful collection of stories shows that there isn’t one way to experience a holiday.With stories by:Dahlia Adler, Sydney Taylor Honor winner of Going BicoastalCandace Buford, author of Good as Gold A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy, authors of the Once & Future seriesPreeti Chhibber, author of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge PlotNatasha Díaz, award-winning author of Color Me InKelly Loy Gilbert, Stonewall Book Award winning author of Picture Us in the LightKosoko Jackson, USA Today bestselling author of The Forest Demands Its DueAditi Khorana, award-winning author of Mirror in the SkyKatherine Locke, award-winning author of This Rebel HeartAbdi Nazemian, Stonewall Book Award–winning author of Only This Beautiful MomentLaura Pohl, New York Times bestselling author of The Grimrose GirlsSonora Reyes, Pura Belpré Honor winner of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic SchoolKaruna Riazi, contributor to The Grimoire of Grim Fates

A trio of friends from New York City find themselves trapped inside a mechanical board game that they must dismantle in order to save themselves and generations of other children in this action-packed debut that’s a steampunk Jumanji with a Middle Eastern flair.Nothing can prepare you for The Gauntlet… It didn’t look dangerous, exactly. When twelve-year-old Farah first laid eyes on the old-fashioned board game, she thought it looked…elegant. It is made of wood, etched with exquisite images—a palace with domes and turrets, lattice-work windows that cast eerie shadows, a large spider—and at the very center of its cover, in broad letters, is written: The Gauntlet of Blood and Sand. The Gauntlet is more than a game, though. It is the most ancient, the most dangerous kind of magic. It holds worlds inside worlds. And it takes players as prisoners.

“A briliant multicultual collection that reminds readers that stories about food are rarely just about the food alone.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A stunning collection of short stories about the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives in teens, from bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco.A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the pastries she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that can cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life. Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one in the same. Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.

The game begins again in this gripping follow-up to The Gauntlet that’s a futuristic middle eastern Zathura meets Ready Player One!Four years after the events of The Gauntlet, the evil game Architect is back with a new partner-in-crime—The MasterMind—and the pair aim to get revenge on the Mirza clan. Together, they’ve rebuilt Paheli into a slick, mind-bending world with floating skyscrapers, flying rickshaws run by robots, and a digital funicular rail that doesn’t always take you exactly where you want to go. Twelve-year-old Ahmad Mirza struggles to make friends at his new middle school, but when he’s paired with his classmate Winnie for a project, he is determined to impress her and make his very first friend. At home while they’re hard at work, a gift from big sister Farah—who is away at her first year in college—arrives. It’s a high-tech game called The Battle of Blood and Iron, a cross between a video game and board game, complete with virtual reality goggles. He thinks his sister has solved his friend problem—all kids love games. He convinces Winnie to play, but as soon as they unbox the game, time freezes all over New York City. With time standing still and people frozen, all of humankind is at stake as Ahmad and Winnie face off with the MasterMind and the Architect, hoping to beat them at their own game before the evil plotters expand Paheli and take over the entire world.