About this item
A brilliantly original debut graphic novel that imagines a fantastical Cairo where wishes really do come true. Shubeik Lubeik - a fairy tale rhyme that means "your wish is my command" in Arabic - is the story of three people who are navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale.Three wishes that are sold at an unassuming kiosk in Cairo link Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, changing their perspectives as well as their lives. Aziza learned early that life can be hard, but when she loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting bureaucracy and inequality for the right to have - and make - that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether or not to use their wish to try to "fix" this depression, and then figure out how to do it.
About the Author
Deena Mohamed (Arabic: ???? ????, born ca. 1995) is an Egyptian graphic designer, graphic novelist, and illustrator, who was born and raised in Egypt. She made her debut at the age of 18 with her webcomic Qahera, combining both Islamic and feminist values. Mohamed has collaborated with various advocacy groups, such as Harassmap and Centre for Applied Human Rights, to create informational comics. In a cartoon for the online literary magazine ArabLit. org, she described her experience of creating her work in English, addressing international readers, as opposed to using Arabic for an Egyptian and Arab public. Even though she considers both of these forms of expression as part of her personality, she sometimes uses different issues, like feminism in Arabic and Islamophobia in English.
