Hafsa’s Way by Aisha Saeed

Back when I was growing up in Malaysia, the private school I went to for a good part of my primary and secondary schooling essentially gave up on teaching after the General Certificate of Secondary Education exams, and organized fun extracurricular activities for us instead. One of these was trips to the nearby zoo, and when I say nearby, I mean a ten-minute walk or so. So reading a book about a young girl in a (sub)tropical climate who has a coming-of-age experience involving academics and a nearby zoo perhaps resonated with me more than it might with the average reader.

That said, this is the kind of book I could easily see finding an audience with any pre-teen desperate to be allowed to pursue their future without the weight of “but what will people say?!” holding them back, no matter where in the world they live (or how much access to elephants they may have, lol.) Hafsa Imtiaz lives in a village some hours’ drive away from Lahore. Her parents own and run the produce market, and her beloved elder sister Shabnam has married well, to a kind and handsome cardiologist in the capital city. Hafsa herself wants to be a doctor like Sohail, an ambition that her parents don’t exactly encourage. They’d be much happier if she’d just marry a doctor like her sister did, tho they’re not conservative enough to discourage her medical dreams altogether.

And so, secretly, Hafsa applies for a summer science camp program for girls at the prestigious Bukhari Academy in Lahore. Her favorite teacher Miss Sadia often speaks fondly of her experiences there, and Hafsa is determined to go. She’s excited when her application is accepted, but immediately balks when she sees the cost. Even if her parents would let her go live in a dorm unchaperoned, there’s no way they could fork out as much as the cost of a new motorcycle just for her summer experience.

Shabnam and Sohail come to the rescue. When they learn of Hafsa’s quandary, they offer not only to pay, but to have Hafsa stay with them so as to curtail any gossip in the village about her staying in a dorm. Hafsa’s parents reluctantly agree, in part because saying no could be seen as an insult to Sohail’s side of the family. Hafsa herself is thrilled, as not only will she be able to attend the pre-med camp of her dreams, she’ll also be able to spend some quality time with her sister again.

Lahore is very different from her home village, especially the luxurious house where Shabnam and Sohail live with his glamorous, widowed mother and a small army of servants. When Hafsa discovers that this year’s summer camp isn’t medical after all, she’s disappointed but unwilling to let this opportunity for education go to waste. Environmental science might not have been what she signed up for, but it’s still important, especially when she meets an elephant named Gulab and experiences the impact of climate change firsthand. Even her can-do spirit wavers, however, against the animosity of some of her new classmates and the turn she sees in her own sister’s life. Will Hafsa’s resilience and ingenuity help her figure out a way to make life better for everyone, Gulab included?

Hafsa’s ability to roll with the metaphorical punches is truly inspiring, as she meets and overcomes so many challenges in this fast-paced novel about not only being true to yourself but knowing when to pick your battles. I loved the way there were no real “bad guys” in this story — mean girls at the academy excluded — with the actual villain being the weight of expectations. It was a really well done look at modern(ish; I don’t exactly know when this book is meant to be set, tho definitely within the last decade or so) experiences in an underrepresented culture globally, as well as an excellent argument for the importance of both feminism and environmental sciences.

I really enjoyed Aisha Saeed’s writing here, and am hoping I’ll be able to find time for her adult novel The Matchmaker soon. Reading this Middle Grade novel has definitely punted that rom-com mystery higher up my To-Read pile tho, and made her an author whose future work I definitely don’t want to miss!

Also, tbc, Zoo Negara has always done an amazing job caring for its animals, at least as far as I could tell during my semi-regular visits all throughout my teens.

Hafsa’s Way by Aisha Saeed was published March 10 2026 by Nancy Paulsen Books and is available from all good booksellers, including