Sunday, August 1, 2010

 It’s hard for children to understand adults but twin authors are trying to make it easier

One day they’re angry and they make lots of noise. The next day they’re quiet, a little distracted.

We’re not talking about babies but humans in general and our complex array of behaviour. It’s hard enough for adults to understand and communicate with each other, let alone children.

That’s why twin authors Fatima and Mariam Masood decided to write ‘I Know Who You Are’.

The book, the pair’s first published work, presents the idea that every person has a ‘Character Skin’, which guides their behaviour and inspires their conversations.

The 25-year-old sisters, both qualified teachers, wanted to create a way for young people to understand the people around them. “The idea of individuals having Character Skins is a way to understand people. We wanted to come up with an easy way to classify people,” says Fatima.

“In the book, the leading character Sultan, a 12-year-old boy, pictures people as a character. For example, they could be a ‘Head Spin’ -     someone who talks very fast and usually gets into trouble. We create visuals for people to identify with - like the Potato Head for ‘Head Spin’ with his head upside down.

“You’ve also got Sticklip, who has his lips stuck together so he wont contribute much in a discussion.”

“If you know a person’s Character Skin you can understand, respond and deal with them effectively.”

In the book, the idea of Character Skins comes to Sultan from his grandfather who left the family five years ago and magically appears to him through a diary.

Sultan enjoys his interactions with his grandfather and keeps them a secret from his family. He becomes able to identify character traits and predict people’s behaviour, helping to avoid rows.

Mariam adds: “The main protagonist in the book is a 12-year-old boy who turns 13 during the course of the book. Therefore we had to keep in mind when we were writing, how he would think, how young brains question everything. And we try to answer all the questions the young brain would think of.”

The book also teaches children some good life skills and advises them although it’s important to make your opinion heard, it’s also essential you use your ears as well.

“The book tries to teach how it’s important to speak but hearing and listening is equally as important,” says Mariam.

And the sisters have had some good feedback about their book as well.

“We spoke to a teacher who was 60 years old and she told us if she would have read the book earlier in her life it would have changed quite a lot of things and helped her explain things to students,” says Mariam.

“Although the main character in the book is only 12 and it focuses on his experience so would therefore be good for teenagers, it would also be interesting for university age children and young people going into the real world who don’t quite understand people’s behaviour.”

Even though writing a book together meant spending long hours alone with each other, Fatima and Mariam, who are of Pakistani heritage but have lived their whole lives in the GCC, say the experience was great.

“We don’t argue. The good thing about us is that we’re still so excited to be together, to be twins. We’ve never been fed up of each other and we find doing things together a real highlight. We do everything  together - we wear the same clothes and the same accessories!” says Fatima.

“When it came to writing the book we did have similar ideas and when they were different we’d find a midpoint and work with that which kind of made our scope bigger.”

The pair, who wrote a fortnightly newspaper column called the ‘Friday Class’ for children for two years, even taught at the same school but are now taking a break to concentrate on their writing and a Masters Degree.

‘I Know Who You Are’ is available at Macgrudy’s, Jashanmal and Duty Free book shops as well as selected Carrefour stores