OwnVoices MG Contemporary

[Aiman Ghani]

Hey guys! I'm a college student, future educator, and writer in Illinois.

My novel is a 52K middle grade contemporary. Here's the pitch: 11 y/o Pakistani-American Muslim Yusra's depression and undiagnosed OCD are growing the summer before middle school. Enter her newly-divorced, queer, religious aunt - the closest thing to a mom she's had. Together, they navigate her mom's "A List of Things that Make Life Good" and begin to finally heal.

I really want critique partners for the long-term who are interested in middle grade and YA (at least for now) and who are POC themselves. I'm huge on sensitivity reading, writing inclusive stories, and having good representation. I'm a feminist, mental health advocate, and am anti-colonization. I'm currently querying to become traditionally published after I participated in #DVPit last year.

I'm currently re-reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I love Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali. Life of Pi is one of my all-time favorite books. Once of the best books I recently read was Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. Aside from that, there's Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb, which I read last October and am already yearning to revisit. I love and consider to be a favorite the middle grade When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, as well as Lauren Child's entire Ruby Redfort series. I adore Avatar: The Last Airbender, even thought that's a show.

I'm super excited to connect. Thank you!

[Aiman Ghani]

18+ only, please!

[Rishika Sen]

Hey, this sounds super interesting and I'd be willing to CP.

My current WIP is contemporary YA/NA and here's the logline:

After being forced to stay with her aunt in India during winter break, Ria finds love from the grumpy film student sitting next to her on the plane.

It's around 70K and I've self-edited it a few times but it's not totally perfect. I'm unagented and unpublished.  I'm mostly looking for someone who could help with the big picture and help understand if there are any loose ends if the voice is engaging if the story is too stretched out and other storytelling things.

As with my writing, I like reading YA Contemporary. The most recent book I've finished is Darius the Great is Not Okay. A tv show that I drew inspiration from while writing is This is Us.

Let me know if you're interested.