After writing 50 books, Pakistani American kids' book author Saadia Faruqi is covering an issue she's never explored before in her newest title, The Strongest Heart.
"This is the first time I've written a book that completely revolves around mental illness and the repercussions it has on family life, especially on kids," says Faruqi. "It's a topic that's very close to my heart and the theme is personal to me."
Published in March, The Strongest Heart follows Mo, a Pakistani American eighth grader, as he struggles to understand his Abbu — "father" in Urdu — who has schizophrenia. The book is based on Faruqi's own rocky relationship with her father, whom she believes also had this condition.
Growing up in Karachi, Pakistan, Faruqi says she was afraid of her father's episodes and often felt confused. The adults never "sat me down and explained anything. Nobody said, 'Hey, don't be scared.' " She hopes The Strongest Heart, geared toward middle schoolers, can offer comfort and strength to young people who live with someone with mental illness at home.
So far, the book has earned four starred reviews. Kirkus Review writes: "The portrayal of serious mental illness and the complex emotions of a child whose parent suffers from it are realistic, eye-opening and moving."
Faruqi, the Houston-based author of the popular kids' book series about a Pakistani-American girl named Yasmin, talks to NPR about mental health in Pakistan and what she wishes she could say to her dad if he were alive today. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was it like for you growing up in Pakistan with a father who had mental illness?
It was frightening. I never knew which dad I was going to get. When I walked into the house from school, I dreaded going inside because I didn't know whether he was going to be angry or loving.
What the grown-ups knew was not always what the kids knew because there was no sharing of information. What I have pieced together is based on things I eavesdropped on as a kid.
We think he had schizophrenia. He could have also had an adjacent kind of mental illness because many of these illnesses share a lot of symptoms. It was very unclear. [In Pakistan], there was no good way of diagnosing mental illness.
How did you cope?
I got completely immersed in books, especially those that took me away in terms of fantasy and had witches and dinosaurs.
Most of the literature in those times was British because [Pakistan] used to be a colony of the British, and Enid Blyton, Jane Austen and Daphne du Maurier were favorite authors. Then once I entered high school, I got immersed in Shakespeare. That was the first time I realized how powerful words could be to bring about emotion in other people.
How did society treat your dad in Pakistan?
People would say, "He's just mad. He's crazy. Don't talk to him."
I was very sensitive about this when going out. If we were at a family wedding, I had this perception that people were whispering about me or my family. There was so much shame around it.
How is mental health perceived in your culture?
In a lot of poor countries, there are no financial or medical resources. There's no understanding that if someone is acting in a certain way, there could be a reason. It may not be their fault. They may need medication.
But if you say that to another person, they might see it as an attack. They might think: you're insulting me. It's very sad. So we do need more education, more empathy toward people who may have those challenges.
You have a wonderful character in the book, Naila Phupo, who is Mo's paternal aunt. She gives Mo attention, love and care — and ultimately, gets Mo's dad the medical help he needs. Tell me about her.
I wanted Mo to have someone who could support him and not just treat him like all the relatives treated me in my family, who did not at all seem concerned. Or maybe they were concerned, but that concern was not evident to me or did not lead to any action.
If you don't do anything as an adult, what's the point? So I wanted to have a character Mo could rely on to make change and help his dad get better.
Mo's mom is an aid worker at a refugee camp in Greece and is often away. Why didn't you want her in the picture?
Again, this story is personal. Even though my mother did not leave us, emotionally she was often not present because of her job, her career and her organization. She was an educator of educators. By the end of my time in Pakistan, she was the principal of a teacher's training college, and she started a professional development society for English teachers.
Everyone thought my mom was a saint for being my dad's wife, for taking care of not just him but our entire household. But she's also got her flaws. My mom was the only thing between us siblings and our dad and we often did not have that protection.
That's why I needed Mo's mom to leave and also be somebody everyone loved. Mo's mom had a job that people were impressed with, but only her own family knew what she was doing was wrong. She had abandoned her child.
Interspersed in the narrative, there are South Asian folktales about a jackal who is punished for pretending to be a king and a foolish man who puts all his eggs in a basket. Why did you decide to weave them into your book?
I wanted to break up the tension and the negative scenes with something uplifting. Those folktales reflect how Mo is feeling and what's going on in his life and alleviate his sadness or grief or anger.
In your book's epilogue, you write that your dad died several years ago and you did not have a good relationship with him. If you could tell him anything now, what would you say?
I would apologize. Whenever I used to visit him, I would fight with him. I was finally taking charge of my anger and being able to talk back as an adult, because I never could as a child.
I would hug him. He was such a huggy person. I always hated it because of the relationship we had. So I would hug him and kiss him and tell him that I loved him. I think he would be very moved by that.
What would a book like this have meant to you when you were growing up?
It would have meant the world to me. I did not think this was anybody's experience except my own.
What do you want people to take away from the book?
There's a sentence in the book that says: "The strongest heart is the one that's still beating." Even at your lowest point, the job of the heart is to make sure all your organs are getting blood so your body survives. You don't have to be amazing all the time. Sometimes there are low points, and even if you're just surviving, that's a big deal.
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