That was it! I just finished Amina’s Voice! It was an amazing story by the author, Hena Khan, and has made me want to read it again!
“Oh look,” Mom said pointing to her phone, “You can even write a message to Hena Khan, the author.” I stared at her black phone with a black case which I called boring because it was halfway cracked. The next thing I knew, I was typing a letter to the author. I sent it to her from my mom’s email account. I thanked Mrs. Khan for writing the book and mentioned how I am similar to the main character, Amina. After sending her an email, I was excited as well as nervous. I asked myself, “Will she reply to my email”?After coming from school every day, I would ask my mom “Did you get a reply from Hena Khan?” Her answer was always “No.” With a sigh, I felt disheartened. I asked myself, “What is the point of writing to your favorite author?” Then I would say “Maybe she is busy, I should wait.”
Days, weeks, and maybe even months passed by after sending her the email. I had no hopes of getting a reply from her. But one day, as I was going to school in my mom’s black car on a white snowy Friday. “The author of Amina’s Voice replied,” mom said, grabbing her pink purse to get her pager as she was getting paged from the hospital where she works. I couldn’t believe my ears. I said, “What??” The news finally got into my mind and I was so happy. I never thought that I would ever get a reply from someone famous.
“I forwarded it to you and check it out on Gmail,” my mom said.
It was 8:43am and I was getting late for school because school starts at 8:50am. I grabbed my very heavy backpack and my violin. I rushed to drop off my violin in the orchestra room. One of my friends was asking “Why are you in such a rush?”
“An author replied to my message,” I said. My heart was racing, and I was breathing heavily as I rushed.
“So what?” She said as if it was not a big deal.
I raced upstairs to the 4th-grade hallway to tell Mrs. Schneider, my 4th-grade writing teacher, who had been reading Amina’s Voice to her students. I told her as soon as I got into the classroom and she came to greet me. “That is wonderful Janavi,” she said after I told her what happened.
Many kids began to eavesdrop knowing that Hena Khan replied to my message. When I got to my classroom I was not late yet. I quickly grabbed my computer and forwarded it to my teacher. My mom had sent the reply (that I got) to my dad and uncle, Narayan Wagle, (but I call him TP) who is a famous author in Nepal. I was pretty joyful for the whole day. All my friends thought that it was no big deal, but her reply meant a lot to me.
Now I am reading another book by Hena Khan. It is called More to the Story. This story is about a girl named Jameela who has three sisters. Jameela is very ambitious and wants to become a journalist like her grandfather. She really wants to become editor of the school newspaper, but her ideas are never included. The trouble starts when her dad has to go to Abu Dhabi and has to stay there for nine months because he did not find a job in Atlanta. Following this, another trouble comes to the family. Her younger sister, Bisma, is diagnosed with lymphoma. A boy named Ali, who is also their family friend, has moved to Atlanta from England. Jameela becomes friends with Ali and she starts writing about the new boy in school. This is Jameela’s journey about family, friendship, and resilience. This book is inspired by the book, Little Women. This book is similar to Amina’s Voice by highlighting family values, ambition, cultural diversity, family, and friendship. And I as a reader could identify with Amina and Jameela.
Mrs. Khan has also said in her reply that she has been writing a sequel for Amina’s Voice! I just finished More to The Story. The plot of the story is different from Amina’s Voice, but these books were very interesting, and I cannot wait to read the sequel of Amina’s Voice. No wonder Hena Khan is a great author and has inspired and motivated me.
So, in conclusion, dreams do come true, but you have to believe in yourself. Keep reading and do write to your favorite author. Try to achieve your dream because you never know you might get lucky to get a reply from someone famous or an author who inspires you.