Starting at 12, Dubai student publishes her first book at 13
Noaf sold close to 200 copies of her first book on Amazon and in the community in just a year
Fourteen-year-old Noaf Qaqish often imagined her own twist and endings to the stories she read during her long summer holidays.
At the age of 12, the Jordanian expat based in Dubai decided to write her own book. “I wasn’t a big bookworm, but I started reading during the summer holidays. I always felt there was a part of each book that could be changed or improved and decided to see if I could write my own story with my own plot,” she told Gulf News.
The ninth grader is currently working on her third and fourth books simultaneously after publishing her first book titled Wretched on Amazon.
Bringing together a mixture of genres including mystery, romance, fantasy and Greek mythology, Noaf’s first fiction novel, published at the age of 13, tells the story of two brothers struck by tragedy when their home is destroyed in a fire. Known as the ‘less-gifted’ one, the younger brother flees after losing his sibling, and is then left with riddles that lead him into an underworld full of evil monsters.
“When my book was published on Amazon, I didn’t really care for the returns, I just wanted people to read my story, and wanted to know how it made them feel,” Noaf said.
Through sales on Amazon and among her Dubai community, Noaf sold close to 200 copies in a year. However, she immediately began working on her second book of fiction titled The Fine Line, which she published on Wattpad, an app that provides readers and writers a platform to publish their stories. ■
Noaf quickly gained a following and was able to interact with authors of all ages.
Supported by her parents Tariq and Randa Qaqish, Noaf is using her time during the summer holidays to reach out to more young readers through her writing.
“Noaf is the captain of the basketball team. The fact that she wanted to write a book and actually finished it shows how mature she is and that children can be good at multiple things all at once. I am very proud of her,” Tariq said.
Randa described her daughter as “self-motivated”.
“I can truly say that we had nothing to do with Noaf’s writing. This is something she was motivated to do and continued,
I wasn’t a big bookworm, but I started reading during the summer holidays. I always felt there was a part of each book that could be changed or improved and decided to see if I could write my own story with my own plot.”
Nouf Qaqish | Grade 9 student in Dubai
and we will always support her by giving her feedback and spreading the word to encourage more children to write,” she said.
Noaf, who wants to continue being a part-time author, aspires to become a child psychologist. “The message I want to send through my books is that it doesn’t matter how experienced you are with writing, as long as you have imagination, you can create your own stories,” she said.
Noaf’s books have been shared with junior students at her Emirates International School Meadows. Moving into grade 10 this September, Noaf hopes to inspire more children and even adults to to express themselves through writing.