I was an outsider. I looked different, and I felt really voiceless as a kid. Sabaa Tahir More Quotes by Sabaa Tahir More Quotes From Sabaa Tahir 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' is one of my all-time top YA fantasy trilogies, so I was a little nervous about reading 'Strange the Dreamer.' Of course, I shouldn't have been worried because Laini Taylor immediately grabbed me by the proverbial lapels and refused to let me go. Sabaa Tahir mesmokedaughterreading My dad was very strict. He was absolutely the Tiger Dad. You know, 'You got a 98% on this test? Why didn't you get 100?' That was normal life for my brothers and I. Sabaa Tahir tigeryoudadlife Like so many other young South Asians in America, I am the product of two cultures whose conflicting values pull at me with equal urgency. Never have I felt as torn between the two as I do about the question of marriage. Sabaa Tahir i-amnevermemarriage Great novels have great characterization no matter what. But multiple points of view let me examine characters from entirely different perspectives, allowing me to learn more about everyone in the process. Sabaa Tahir viewgreatmematter I felt like an outcast and turned to books, fantasy in particular, to find a place for myself. Reading took me away from this world, which I needed. Sabaa Tahir myselfmereadingworld As a kid living in an isolated desert town, the most diversity I saw in my media was Claudia Kishi, the Japanese American girl from 'The Baby-Sitters Club.' Sabaa Tahir desertdiversitymediagirl At age 10, or even 15, it would have meant the world to me to see a Pakistani girl portrayed positively, let alone as a comic book superhero. Sabaa Tahir alonemegirlage When I asked myself what I'd want to see in a comic about a Pakistani superhero, the first word that came to mind was 'relatable.' Sabaa Tahir seemyselfmindwant I grew up in an isolated town, out in the middle of the Mojave Desert in the middle of a naval base. My family was one of the only South Asian families in this town. We felt it. We knew. Sabaa Tahir onlyupdesertfamily The way I felt growing up, which was like an outcast - I was weird, I was a nerd, I read fantasy books - I think a lot of fantasy book readers and a lot of readers and writers in general have that experience of isolation. Sabaa Tahir thinkexperiencebookway I like to write when things are calm - and when I'm not worried about my well-being, the well-being of those I love. Sabaa Tahir well-beingthingscalmlove Young readers can sense when you're not addressing what's actually going on. Sabaa Tahir sensegoingyouyoung I love my characters like family and cannot wait to share more of their story with readers. Sabaa Tahir waitstoryfamilylove My parents worked harder than anyone I have ever met. They had so many businesses. There was the motel, but throughout my childhood, they also had a drive-through dairy, a gas station, a clothing store, a computer reselling business. Sabaa Tahir clothingparentschildhoodbusiness Anytime you own a small business, it's all you. There is nobody to fall back on. Sabaa Tahir nobodyyoubusinessfall When I went to college, it was so easy. And I worked two jobs while I was in school all the way through; I put myself through school. But working and studying was easy for me because I had worked so hard in high school, studying all the time. Taking only three classes and then working was an easy life in comparison. Sabaa Tahir myselfmetimelife Literature taught me that I wasn't alone, that I could become a writer if I worked at it, that my story mattered. Whether a young reader becomes a writer or not, they deserve to know that their story, whatever it may be, is important. Sabaa Tahir alonemeimportantliterature As a teenager, I felt so hemmed in and trapped, both by the place I lived and the expectations others had about school, college, and a future career. Sabaa Tahir placefuturecollegeschool Like me as a teen - and like many teenagers now - my characters are at a peculiar crossroads in their lives. They desperately seek freedom. But at the same time, they are constantly thwarted. Sabaa Tahir teenmefreedomtime I don't go on social media with a mercenary intent to promote. That's just wrong. I go to learn, to listen, to have fun, to find people who love what I love and who introduce me to new things. That's where the joy is: in the interactions. Sabaa Tahir mesocial-medialovepeople
