Hail Mariam is an interfaith Muslim take on Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret drawn from the author’s own experiences in Catholic school.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi, which releases on February 24th 2026.
Sixth grade wasn’t supposed to be this complicated.
Iraqi American Mariam Hassan transfers to a local Catholic school and before her first day her parents remind her that she might be the first Muslim her classmates have ever met. No big deal, right? Just represent an entire religion while making new friends, keeping up with schoolwork, and figuring out who she is.
When Mariam’s younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a serious lung condition, her family faces endless doctor visits and sleepless nights. Mariam tries to lighten their burden and keep her own problems to herself—including the fact that she’s just been cast as Mary in the school’s Christmas nativity play.
Mariam wants to honor her faith and her new community, but she’s terrified of crossing a religious line. Can a Muslim girl be the lead in a Christian story? What will her family think? And why does she feel like every decision she makes represents all Muslims?
Mariam discovers that faith, much like friendships, isn’t about perfection—it’s about connection. As she leans on her family, friends, and school community, she begins to see the power of interfaith cooperation and learns she doesn’t have to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Hail Mariam is a celebration of the beauty of finding common ground.
EXCERPT
When I close my eyes, Jesus with the flaming heart—the one from the portrait hanging above Ava’s bed—appears in my mind like a hologram. He is life-size but see-through.
And I know exactly why he’s here.
Prophets are too holy to be drawn or represented, but I’d glanced at Jesus’s portrait while we were playing board games on the floor.
Okay, more truthfully, I stared at Jesus. I couldn’t help it. His light brown eyes; his long, wavy hair; the beard that parted for the deep cleft in his chin. I had so many questions.
How did the people who drew Jesus know what he looked like?
Is this a Christian Jesus? Like, if Muslims were allowed to draw pictures of prophets, would they draw Nabi Isa differently?
What kinds of thoughts are you allowed to have about a picture of a prophet? Are you supposed to admire them and think they look nice? Or are you supposed to be in awe and sort of scared of them? And is it right to have feelings about the picture? Or is it wrong?
Well, apparently it was wrong because this vision of Christian Jesus is here now to warn me.
I quickly open my eyes and vow, Ya Allah, I promise I will never look at another image of Nabi Isa again. And then I add on a prayer for forgiveness because I probably need that too. Ya Allah, I’m sorry I convinced Mama to break our no-sleepover rule for this.
Yesterday, I wore Mama down for hours with a very convincing three-point argument. It was truly some of my best work.
- Ava’s dad and brother were camping for the weekend, so there wouldn’t be any boys in the house.
- Ava lived up the street, and I could walk home in the unlikely event of an emergency.
- SumMer was almost over, and didn’t my parents, who love me, want me to do this one fun thing with my one friend, the only best friend I’ve ever had, before I start at a new school, where I know no one?
But the fun ended as soon as Ava and I stopped playing for the night. I wish Mama had told me that this might happen. I don’t know why I thought it would be fun to follow the rules at Ava’s house—to eat her mom’s broccoli casserole dinner, and to go to bed when her mom said (which was WAY earlier than when I go to bed at my house, and we weren’t even done making our friend- ship bracelets for each other), and to sleep on Ava’s hard floor in a hot sleeping bag.
I stare at the strawberry-shaped alarm clock on Ava’s night- stand and count down the hours until morning. I’m afraid to close my eyes because Jesus is probably still there, waiting for me.
So I’m stuck holding my eyes open while Ava snoozes away under the canopy of her comfortable, beautiful bed.
I’m stuck in this house that smells more like essential oils than cooking oil.
And I’m stuck rehearsing how I’m going to tell Mama that now I really can’t go to the middle school she chose for me anymore.
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School is covered in pictures of Jesus.
Excerpted from Hail Mariam, by Huda Al-Marashi. Kokila, 2026. Reprinted with permission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Huda Al-Marashi writes for both children and adults. She is a coauthor of the middle grade novel Grounded, which won the Walter Dean Myers Honor award, and the author of the memoir First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story. Her other writing has appeared in various anthologies and news outlets, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Al Jazeera. She is a fellow and mentor with the Highlights Foundation Muslim Storytellers Program, and she lives in San Diego, California with her husband and three children.
