What would you do if your historic talent show performance was upstaged by GASP your crush!?
And further what would you do if your "crush" then started telling people he saved you because of your disability!?
This is the premise for the fantastic book 'Shiny Misfits' writen by Maysoon Zayid. Maysoon joins the podcast today to share the background on writing this particular book and emphasizes the continued importantance of representation in children's books.
Enjoy!
Maysoon Zayid is a comedian, actress, writer, and disability advocate. She is a graduate of Arizona State University and a Princeton Fellow. Maysoon is the co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. She was a full-time On Air Contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and a columnist for The Daily Beast. She has appeared on 60 Minutes, CNN, ABC News, and Oprah Winfrey Networks. Maysoon had the most viewed TED Talk of 2014 and was thrilled to collaborate with Huda Beauty.
As a professional comedian, Maysoon has sold out top New York clubs and has toured extensively at home and abroad. She was a headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour and The Together Live Tour. Maysoon appeared alongside Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess With the Zohan and has written for Glamour magazine. She limped in New York Fashion Week and is a recurring character on General Hospital. She is the author of the best-selling memoir Find Another Dream and is collaborating with Scholastic on her debut comic book Shiny Misfits.
About 'Shiny Misfits'
A sparkling story about friendship, fame, and fighting to write your own narrative, SHINY MISFITS spotlights Bay Ann, a young Arab American Muslim girl with two tap shoes and a dream of the stage who, despite her awe-inspiring routine is reduced to her disability—cerebral palsy—after her wobble on stage goes viral. Bay Ann refuses to have her talent cast aside and teams up with her best friends to take her power back… while getting into a few capers along the way.
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Thanks to Empire Toys for this episode of the podcast!
AND Thanks to Self Unbound for this episode of the podcast: