Khadijah VanBrakle is a Muslim woman of color living in the southwestern US. As someone born and raised in Canada to American parents, she writes to ensure teens who share her Black American & Muslim dual marginalization see themselves on the printed page. She was chosen as one of the recipients of a two-year, 2021 Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Fellowship. ‘
Khadijah’s sophomore, contemporary YA book, My Perfect Family, from Holiday House, is due out July 1st, 2025. Her debut YA novel, Fatima Tate Takes the Cake, was released in June 2023 and was a 2024 NAACP Image Award Finalist for Outstanding Youth/Teen literature. Check out her website, khadijahvanbrakle.com, or find her on Instagram @khadijahvanbrakle.
Khadijah’s Confessions: My Path to Traditional Publishing
When you first start with an idea for a book, you mistakenly think the most difficult thing is writing the words. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! For me at least, querying was a close second.
To be completely honest, I over-queried my first YA work. I just knew there was a professional and personable literary agent who would snap up my manuscript. After sending out one hundred queries, I made the heart-breaking decision to retire the story.
So, imposter syndrome took over and convinced me I could never write another story again. I was drained, tapped out.
I’m glad to say that another idea struck me and I was off to drafting again.
Unfortunately, after a few drafts and paying a sensitivity reader to go over some of my chapters, I decided to rewrite what was already on the page. As a BIPOC author, I knew that whatever I came up with had to be the best I could make it, no matter how long it took.
After finishing the rewrite and many months of revision, I had my second YA manuscript. This time, with my past querying history, I tiptoed into the process of finding an agent. The first thing I did was enter my new work into Oct 2019 DVpit Twitter pitch contest.
That day, I volunteered in my son’s classroom to give myself a reason to ignore my phone.
I was shocked when my pitch received just over 80 likes.
Once I sent out about twenty queries, I was waiting for replies when another Twitter pitch contest happened in early Dec 2019. It was a hard decision to participate but with the encouragement of one of my writing besties (merci beaucoup Loretta!) I decided to go for it. One of the few likes I received was from Kristina Perez, a new agent from a well-established literary agency based in the UK.
I sent her my query letter and the first chapter, per her instructions.
To my surprise, she got back to me in less than an hour. Kristina told me she loved the voice in what she read and requested the full manuscript.
After jumping up and down for a minute, I sent it along.
To my surprise, about six weeks later, Kristina surprised me, asking if we could set up a call. A few days later, we spoke on the phone and she offered representation. In February 2020, I accepted and Kristina Perez was officially my literary agent.
The Inspiration
The simple answer is that the lack of traditionally-published books in 2017, that featured a Black American Muslim teen in realistic young adult novels, is what drove me to start writing in this genre.
Eight years ago, my youngest daughter (then in high school) asked me why there weren’t any books with protagonists that looked like her and had a similar life experience. We found out this fact after a visit to our local library.
I believe that every child and teen deserves to see themselves on the printed page.
Both My Perfect Family (coming July 2025) and Fatima Tate Takes The Cake (June 2023) are coming-of-age stories that follow main characters that are dealing with normal adolescent issues, sprinkled with other problems specific to their and/or their families’ dual marginalizations. I’m honored to be able to write stories that haven’t been seen very often in Contemporary YA fiction.
The Back Story: How I Got My Two-Book Deal
My agent, Kristina, and I worked on my manuscript for one entire year. If I had known it was going to take so long to revise, I would’ve been discouraged but looking back, I’m so glad I took the time to get my story in the best shape possible. I went on submission with my first novel in February 2021.
After a quick six-week revision that summer, Kristina received the first Holiday House offer in December 2021. I accepted their two-book deal in February 2022 and my debut, Contemporary YA novel, Fatima Tate Takes the Cake, was released in June 2023.
I turned in my second manuscript a few months before my debut came out. That book, My Perfect Family, my next Contemporary YA novel with Holiday House, is due out July 1st, 2025.
Under the Radar Authors I’d Like to See Featured
Praise for Fatima Tate Takes the Cake: