Light from the Disappearing Sun

An odyssey of an Algerian boy who braves unimaginable hardships and perils to find his mother who has become a victim of the country’s civil war. In 1991, Farid Belkadi enrolls in an Islamic school where he is supposed to be safe from the Islamic Salvation Front. However, a fatwa is issued against his feminist mother. Sent away to Morocco for his safety, Farid refuses to believe the rumor that his mother has been killed. Determined to find her, Farid makes a twisted and dangerous journey through Europe and North Africa where he is kidnapped by desert bandits and forced to tan leather in blood-filled vats. Each time, he makes a miraculous escape relying on his courage and the kindness of strangers. Light from the Disappearing Sun is a measure of what human beings can be when they are met with death, despair, and suffering. It is a portrait of human resiliency and courage against the greatest of odds.

Milk and Cookies with the President

A picture book manuscript about Chehab’s five-year-old daughter who wished to meet the President of the United States after being diagnosed with leukemia. Five months later, she walked into the Oval Office and was embraced by the President. It is amazing how an ordinary life can become extraordinary. Milk and Cookies with the President is told with the simple charm of a young girl and inspires children to discover joy even in dark times.