The Strongest Heart

PREORDER — Expected release: 01 December 2026. This book is not yet available. Dispatch is subject to supplier availability and publication-date changes.

A Schneider Family Book Award HonoreeFrom beloved middle grade author Saadia Faruqi comes a poignant exploration of the impact of mental illness on families—and the love and hope that it takes to begin telling a different tale. Mo is used to his father’s fits of rage. When Abbu's moods shake the house, Mo is safe inside his head, with his cherished folktales: The best way to respond is not to engage. Apparently, his mama knows that too—which is why she took a job on the other side of the world, leaving Mo alone with Abbu.With Mama gone, the two move to Texas to live with Mo’s aunt and cousin, Rayyan. The two boys could not be more different. Rayyan is achievement-driven and factual; Mo is a “bad kid." Still, there is a lot to like about living in Texas. Sundays at the mosque are better than he’d expected. And Rayyan and his aunt become a real family to Mo.But even in a warm home and school where he begins to see a future for himself, Mo knows that the monster within his father can break out and destroy their fragile peace at any moment…

About the author

Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani-American writer, interfaith activist, and cultural-sensitivity trainer. She is the author of the children's early-reader series Yasmin, the middle grade novels A Thousand Questions and Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero, and the coauthor of the middle grade novel A Place at the Table. She was profiled in O magazine as a woman making a difference in her community and serves as editor in chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry, and prose. She resides in Houston, TX, with her family.