Finding Jamilah

Jamilah Henderson knows three things: her mother is invincible, her hamster can’t stay still, and no matter how much she tries, she won’t fit in. When tragedy strikes her family, her world turns upside down. Will she heal the twenty-year rift between her grandparents and her parents? Finding Jamilah is a story about love, identity, and the gift of forgiveness.

The Story of Yusuf

“Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment, and especially on their children, than the unlived life of the parents.” – Carl Jung.

Yusuf Mohamed is in his final year of highschool, and the stakes are high. The pressure is on for him to excel, and to be the doctor that his father always wanted him to be. Truth be told, Yusuf doesn’t want to be a doctor. He wants to be the opposite of the medical or anatomical; he wants to be a poet and explore metre and rhyme. How will he reconcile his dreams and his father’s?

”A beautiful expression of love and finding your true self through family bonds. A truly heart felt story. Beautifully written.” - US Reviewer

“Finding Jamilah is a story that will make you laugh and cry at the same time. There is so much to learn as the author takes you on Jamilah's journey to Malaysia where she meets family for the first time and learns that love is sometimes hidden in the harsh. It is an important journey of reconciliation not only for Jamilah but also for any reader who has had a difficult relationship with family. The author does a wonderful job of shedding light on those people in our family whom we cannot quite fathom. We come away feeling that Jamilah is not the only person to have learned something from her journey but the reader comes away with greater understanding too. And just when we were wiping away tears and shaking our heads in confirmation, the author delivers a surprise ending that we never saw coming. Masha'Allah, Raidah Shah Idil is a certain talent with promise of greater stories to come.” - Maryam Chahine