MAYSOON ZAYID, THE GIRL WHO CAN CAN by Dr. Seema Yasmin w/ Illustrations by Noha Habaieb

From the prolific Pulitzer Prize–nominated Muslim reporter Dr. Seema Yasmin comes an exciting nonfiction chapter book about one of America’s first female Muslim comedians—Maysoon Zayid—the first in the riveting and inspirational Muslim Mavericks.

MAYSOON ZAYID, THE GIRL WHO CAN CAN

by Seema Yasmin & Noha Habaieb

Salaam Reads is proud to launch the Muslim Mavericks series with MAYSOON ZAYID, THE GIRL WHO CAN CAN written by Seema Yasmin and illustrated by Noha Habaieb. On sale February 10, 2026 for ages 6-10, Muslim Mavericks is The Who Was? meets Muslim Girls Rise in a series spotlighting inspirational Muslim figures.

Bold and barrier-breaking, Muslim Mavericks is the first chapter bookbiography series about Muslims. The series opener focuses on Maysoon Zayid—a talented actress and one of America's first Muslim women comedians. She is also Palestinian and has cerebral palsy—aspects of her identity that are explored and celebrated in this book.

This is the story of the girl who could!

Maysoon Zayid was just a girl from New Jersey. She might have sometimes felt like she was in the shadow of her three older sisters, but in her dreams, she was Mimi—an amazing actress, comedian, and dancer! The only problem? People kept telling Maysoon her dreams were impossible!

Achieving her goals certainly wasn’t easy; as a Palestinian Muslim girl born with cerebral palsy, Maysoon faced all sorts of challenges—both physical and societal. But Maysoon didn’t dare give up. Instead, she followed her heart all the way to the screen and stage to become one of America’s first ever women Muslim comedians and an actress on her favorite TV show.

“Maysoon is a phenomenon. I’ve admired her comedy for years and the way she shows upunapologetically Muslim and Palestinian,” Yasmin told Publishers Weekly. “Maysoon is truthful and outspoken; she speaks up because her life depends on it, because it does. Her story resonates with so many readers, young and old, who have had to fight to have their voices heard and have had to struggle to be seen and included.”

The Muslim Mavericks seeks to repair the harm done by a lack of representation and by misinformed narratives about Muslims in popular culture. It aims to provide positive, uplifting, and encouraging narratives that highlight the true beauty of Muslim identity and shed light on some of the Muslim community's notable societal contributions.

Written in an engaging voice and with great care, Yasmin transforms personal interviews with Zayid into a thoughtful exploration of her childhood. Plus, Zayid's jokes are just as funny on the page as they are on the stage. Her brilliant sense of humor is sure to both engage and entertain readers!

“There are too few stories about disabled women, about Muslim women, about Palestinian women inmiddle grade literature, and this book, which is the first of the Muslim Maverick series, invites readersto get to know Maysoon and how her faith has shaped her,” Yasmin shared with School LibraryJournal’s A Fuse #8 Production.

Purchase Maysoon Zayid, the Girl Who Can Can from:

Amazon | Hardcover | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Books | Goodreads

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SEEMA YASMIN is an Emmy Award–winning journalist who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, medical doctor, professor, and poet. She attended medical school at Cambridge University and worked as a disease detective for the US federal government’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. She currently teaches storytelling at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a regular contributor to CNN, Self, and Scientific American, among others. She is also the author of What the Fact? Finding the Truth in All the Noise and Unbecoming.

Places to find Dr. Seema Yasmin:

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon Author Page

NOHA HABAIEB is a Tunisian French visual storyteller, working between Doha and Tunis. After studying comics in Belgium, she returned to Tunisia where she cofounded the Lab619, an award-winning comics collective. Noha took part in the evolution of Lab619’s first comics magazine for adults by participating with her original comics and organizing artistic residencies themed around migration, identity and borders. In 2017, she cofounded Koskh, an illustration studio based in Tunisia, which aims to promote Tunisian heritage through illustrations for children and adults. She’s the illustrator of the Muslim Mavericks chapter book series written by Pulitzer Prize–nominated Dr. Seema Yasmin.

Places to find Noha Habaieb:

Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Threads | Amazon Author Page