“Huda F Are You?” is a graphic novel memoir that follows author Huda Fahmy trying to fit in at Greenfield High School and make new friends. Having just moved to Dearborn, Michigan, a small town with a big Muslim population, in the early 2000s, she has to try and keep good grades for her parents while also figuring out her identity. At her old school, she was known as “the hijabi girl” because she was the only girl who wore a hijab, but now at Greenfield High, Huda has to find out who she really is..
She tries all of the hijabi cliques, but she isn’t a hijabi fashionista, nor is she a hijabi athlete or a hijabi gamer. She also doesn’t really know a lot about her religion, and she’s definitely not the one all the guys like. She’s just “miscellaneous,” which makes her feel like no one at all. That is until she realizes that all it takes is finding out who she isn’t to figure out who she is.
She befriends a few classmates like Nabz, who lives next door to Huda and is also a hijabi girl who loves cosplay, Star Trek and mail-in rebates. Then there’s Haily from Home EC. She supplies Huda with romance novels. Aliya from Pre-Calc bonds with Huda too as they both like to talk about women’s empowerment. There’s also Rahma from P.E., who’s a true cool girl — Huda doesn’t know why Rahma is friends with her, but she’s happy to know that even the intimidating ones can open up and be kind if you give them a chance. And finally, there’s Joe, who she gets paired with in class only because they are the last two left to find a partner, but to Huda’s surprise, unlike Jon from Bio class (the only other boy she interacts with at school), he is mellow and chill which is nice.
Fahmy wrote and illustrated this book to share her own experiences as a hijabi girl, just like she did the very popular webcomic “Yes I’m Hot in This”, upon which the long-form “Huda F Are You?” is based. She aims to show that it can be hard to figure out who you are and to try and fit into a new school, even if it’s one full of people who are like you, or at least seem like you at first. It’s harder to stand out at a place like Dearborn High when everyone is Muslim and all the girls are hijabi, but Huda learns that you don’t have to change yourself to fit in. Using humor, honesty and empathy, “Huda F Are You?” proves that no one is truly alone.
