Hazel Edwards asked Hazel Edwards:

How do you feel about writing sequels?

Hazel Edwards Recently, we were asked to write two sequels to 'Hijabi Girl' because Larrikin Puppets are going to tour with their 'Hijabi Girl The Musical" post-Pandemic . We wrote the original character Melek ( Hijabi Girl) almost eight years ago, when there was a demand for Book Week Parades for a feisty girl character who wanted to play Aussie Rules and who wore a hijab. Hijabi Girl 2 and Hijabi Girl 3 will be out in early 2021. Luckily we originally wrote dossiers for the four main characters. But it's important to think your way back into the mind of that character. Plus conditions have changed. When we started writing there were no girls' league teams. Now there are. But our character Melek is still feisty and solves problems in quirky ways. She's in a mainstream Australian primary school , so her other friends designer Lily, Tien who is an awesome at drawing and Zac who has pet Readng Rat , Rattus Rattus and is mad about soccer, are diverse. My co-author Ozge is a Muslim librarian who wears a hijab and is a mad keen Essendon fan but I've had to learn customs and even footy rules to write the sequels. Readers like having more than one book. But the authors have to remember all the details, even if written years apart.

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