Author Talk: Piece by Piece | Priya Huq in conversation with Shing Yin Khor and Maddi Gonzalez

Nisrin is a 13-year-old Bangladeshi-American girl living in Milwaukie, Oregon, in 2002. As she nears the end of eighth grade, she gives a presentation for World Culture Day about Bangladesh while wearing a traditional cultural dress. On her way home, she is the victim of a hate crime when a man violently attacks her for wearing a headscarf.

Deeply traumatized by the experience, Nisrin spends the summer depressed and isolated. Other than weekly therapy, Nisrin doesn’t leave the house until fall arrives and it’s time for her to start freshman year at a new school. The night before class starts, Nisrin makes a decision. She tells her family she’s going to start wearing hijab, much to their dismay. Her mother and grandparent’s shocked and angry reactions confuse her—but they only strengthen her resolve.

This choice puts Nisrin on a path to not only discover more about Islam, but also her family’s complicated relationship with the religion, and the reasons they left Bangladesh in the first place. On top of everything else, she’s struggling to fit in at school—her hijab makes her a target for students and faculty alike. But with the help from old friends and new, Nisrin is starting to figure out what really makes her happy. Piece by Piece is an original graphic novel about growing up and choosing your own path, even if it leads you to a different place than you expected.

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Priya Huq is a Bangladeshi-American cartoonist from Austin, Texas, who enjoys working in water-based media. Her stories deal with complex emotions in both real and fantastic locations. In her free time she likes to drink tea and look at trees. Huq has contributed to TheNib and other online publications. She lives in New York City with her spouse and two cats.

Shing Yin Khor is a cartoonist and installation artist exploring the Americana mythos and new human rituals. A Malaysian-Chinese immigrant, and an American citizen since 2011, they are the author of The Legend of Auntie Po, a historical fiction graphic novel about Chinese labor in 1800s logging camps and Paul Bunyan stories, and The American Dream?, a graphic novel about travelling Route 66.

Maddi Gonzalez is a Mexican-American cartoonist and illustrator from the Rio Grande Valley. She has spent countless years providing art for comic books, tabletop games, visual novels, art books, toys, theatrical productions, and apparel. Maddi was nominated for an Ignatz Award for her short comic "Too Hot To Be Cool", first printed in ELEMENTS: Fire - A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color. Maddi is currently drawing TIFFANY’S GRIFFON for First Second books, set to release in 2022.