Join us in welcoming Khadijah VanBrakle to the CNM Libraries' Main Campus location to read from her first novel, Fatima Tate Takes the Cake, and speak about the process of getting published. Q & A session and reception to follow with snacks inspired by the book. This event is free to attend and open to the public.

Description from the author's website:

Fatima Tate wants to be a baker AND enjoy some innocent flirting with her hot friend Raheem—but her strict Muslim parents would never approve of either…
Seventeen-year-old Fatima Tate, aspiring baker (100% against her conservative parents’ wishes), leads a pretty normal life in Albuquerque: long drives with BFF Zaynab, weekly services at the mosque, big family parties, soup kitchen volunteering (the best way to perfect her flaky dough recipe!), stressing about college. But everything changes when she meets a charming university student named Raheem. Knowing the ‘rents would FREAK, Fatima keeps their burgeoning relationship a secret… and then, one day, her parents and his parents decide to arrange their marriage. Amazing! True serendipity!  

Except it’s not amazing. As soon as the ring is on Fatima’s finger, Raheem’s charm transforms into control and manipulation. Fatima knows she has to call the whole thing off, but Raheem doesn’t like to lose. He threatens to reveal their premarital sexual history and destroy her and her family’s reputation in their tight-knit Muslim community. Fatima must find the inner strength to blaze her own trail by owning her body, her choices, and her future. Combining the frank authenticity of Elizabeth Acevedo and the complex social dynamics of Ibi Zoboi, FATIMA TATE TAKES THE CAKE is a powerful coming-of-age story that gives a much-needed voice to young Black Muslim women.

This debut novel is set in Albuquerque, NM and is written by a local author.

About the Author:

Khadijah L. VanBrakle is a Muslim woman of color. Her debut Contemporary YA debut novel, FATIMA TATE TAKES THE CAKE, was released June 13, 2023, from Holiday House. 

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.