While picture books and YA novels by Muslim writers have proliferated in recent years, the in-between 8-12+ years category has not been growing at quite the same speed. So when I come across books aimed at this group, I’m always excited to give them a go. The Ayesha Dean books by Melati Lum, of which there are four, have popped up in my book browsing a number of times and I finally decided to give them a go. Since I recently returned from a visit to Istanbul, I chose Ayesha Dean: The Istanbul Intrigue, which is also the first book in the series.

Ayesha Dean is half-Indonesian, half-White Australian late teen being raised by her non-Muslim uncle. I have a special place in my heart for mixed-background characters and they are quite rare so this discovery at the beginning of the book was even more exciting. It’s also nice to see an example in literature of positive relationships between a Muslim character and their non-Muslim family (Adam and Zayneb and their families in Love from A to Z are another lovely example). It was also nice to see very organic inclusion of Islamic practice in this book, from Ayesha stopping at a mosque to pray to making du’a in a moment of danger. It’s evident throughout that the portrayal of a practising Muslim character is a central goal in Melati Lum’s writing and it is refreshing to see this done without any of the common defensive or aggressive tones that too often go alongside.

I was an avid reader of Enid Blyton’s adventure series growing up; I read many of the Famous Five books and loved Mallory Towers, a series about a girls’ boarding school. Naturally, then, I was looking forward to something similar with Muslim characters. Ayesha and her two friends go on holiday to Istanbul with her uncle and accidentally discover a cryptic note which leads them down an increasingly threatening path as they try to solve it. Along the way, they meet a variety of Turkish characters who help or hinder them on their mission and explore some of the most prominent of Istanbul’s historical sites. Ayesha and her friends are very “21st Century”, urban, and savvy, quite different to the style of character I read in Enid Blyton’s works and connected to as a young girl, and in a way made me feel quite old! I know I never “stopped for coffee” when I was in my teens. But of course that is exactly what you would expect from a book written for today’s young people, especially an urban, Western Muslim audience, and I can imagine a 12-year old now getting completely swept up in the adventure.

However, I did find myself questioning some of the more risky choices Ayesha and her friends make. At one point, they meet a lady who they had met once briefly before and they go into her house for tea and cakes. At another point, after a very dangerous encounter with a “bad guy”, they then proceed to split up and travel alone in the city. Not to mention, they spend quite a lot of time with a young man they meet by accident, who knows where they are staying and that they are spending their days with no adult present. Through all this, Ayesha’s uncle – and their adult chaperone for the trip – doesn’t say much more than “be careful, now”. All the warning sirens were going off in my head as I read these scenes. These are things I wouldn’t even do as an adult in an unfamiliar city, so I was concerned that this would be in a book aimed at very impressionable 10+ year olds. Upon reflection, I don’t think this would stop me giving it to a young person to read, but I would definitely raise it with them to discuss how Ayesha (and her uncle) could have behaved more responsibly.

Overall, it is a pleasure to see a Muslim character in a book like this, taking cues from her Islamic faith, pursuing justice and taking an interest in the wider world. Melati Lum’s affection for Istanbul and its history comes through in the details she intersperses through the story and I can imagine the other two books in this series – The Seville Secret and The Lisbon Lawbreaker – explore the history of those cities in a similar way. Of course, it helps that one of my favourite places in Istanbul – Süleymaniye mosque – features heavily in the story! While I didn’t agree with all the choices the writer made, literature is not only about one perspective and providing children with a variety of types of character and types of book and taking the time to discuss them with them is always the best way, in my opinion. It is heartwarming for me to see sincere Muslim writers like Melati Lum passionately writing characters who are invested in their faith and I pray that we will only have more. May Allah reward them all for their efforts and dedication and bless their work.