Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

SUPER cute. Loved the neighborhood feel of this, the mix of cultures and various kid ages. As usual, Khan has such a clear, expressive voice for children that readers can really connect with.

This was such a light and fun and adorable book! Hena Khan is an auto buy author for me and I genuinely love how she explores different aspects of children's behaviors. I loved that this explored the competitive and jealous nature of kids, especially with friendships.

To be honest, that's sort of relatable for all ages!

This was just pure and innocent and joyful to read! I loved seeing Zara grow and realize that she doesn't need to be jealous of growing her friend group and including people even while wanting to maintain "queen" status in her neighborhood. The art was adorable and I really enjoyed this!

This early chapter book packs a lot of personality, growth, and fun into 127 pages.  The writing quality is engaging and the characters relatable.  If you have read the Zayd Saleem books you will recognize the family in this new stand alone series.  Either way though, from the surprising Naano to the fun Mamoo, the neighborhood children and the desire to maintain her reign as Queen of the neighborhood, the book may be meant for 7-10 year olds, but based on the kids in my house, anyone that picked it up, read the entire book before putting it back down.  The grandma covers her head, it mentions she reads Quran, there is a Salaam or two, an InshaAllah, and desi cultural foods mentioned.  The focus is not on religion or culture, but the layer adds depth to the characters, and normalizes names and practices in a universal plot.

SYNOPSIS:

Zara's neighborhood has a lot of kids in it, and Zara has the reputation of being the leader who rules with grace and fairness.  It is a position she takes very seriously.  When Mr. Chapman moves out and a new family moves in, Zara fears losing her place.  The new girl Naomi has a lot of ideas and everyone seems to like them.  Zara has a grand idea to set a Guinness World Record, but with her little brother Zayd messing her up, nothing is going as planned for the summer.  

As she finds her self alone a lot and not having much fun, she decides to change things up.  She works to be less bossy, less controlling, more willing to to share her crown.  With a lot of heart, internal growth, recognizing her strengths and weaknesses, the neighborhood kids just might have a record-breaking summer.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that the story wasn't just surface level, it acknowledged some emotions and stresses and introspection, that I was pleasantly surprised to see played out in an early chapter book.  I really just enjoy the family, they read relatable and fun. The Nanoo's surprise ability to hula hoop and her pettiness over a cooking competition genuinely made me smile.  The neighborhood kids and the politics of the different aged children having to find ways to compromise reminds me a lot of my summers as a kid, and the nostalgia was sweet.  I like the Islamic touchstones, I would have loved if they had to go in at sunset to pray or something of the like, but I was glad that at least that Nanoo reads Quran and an inshaAllah in the text made me feel seen.

This was a really interesting book! I loved the writing style and the illustrations. Zara is such a fun character and I love the way we got to see her understand her life more. This is a great book.

This is a cute and fun middle grade book! Zara struggles with summer problems typical for an elementary school - new kids move into the neighborhood and changes are hard! AND she has an annoying younger brother. Also, Zara lives in a diverse neighborhood and there’s a lot of food representation — I especially loved seeing Naomi bring over rugelach to share (and try to make a Giant Rugelach later). This is a great addition to any elementary schooler’s library, with fun illustrations and great writing. Also every time someone calls Zara the “queen of the neighborhood” I hear the Linda Lindas covering Rebel Girl. Five stars.

I loved Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun! Hena Khan’s characters are so easy to spend time with. Can’t get enough of her stories. Thrilled to see this will be a series!

Zara is used to being the neighborhood queen, the rule-maker, the one others follow… and she likes it that way. So, when it looks like that’s starting to change, she decides it’s time to work toward breaking a world record.

An ode to neighborhood fun and the relationships between the friends who live on our block.

A great book middle schoolers can now enjoy and relate with developing friendships and finding one’s identity. It is also a great book to have a window into how a Muslim family lives within your typical American neighbourhood. Zara’s Rules for Record Breaking Fun is an enjoyable read with many laugh out loud moments.

This is the first installment in the Zara series. We meet Zara who feels her “Queen of the Neighbourhood '' status is threatened by the new girl in the community, so she sets out to do something about it. Zara’s Muslim family is Pakistan-American

The story opens on Taco Tuesday even though it is really Friday. The family is anxiously anticipating the arrival of the new owners of Mr. Chapman’s home moving in next door.

Zara and the other neighbourhood kids were sad to see their elderly neighbor, friendly Mr. Chapman, move away. The house is sold and a new family is moving in, hopefully with kids, and someone who can tend his beautiful garden.. Zara is the ‘Queen of the Neighborhood,’ so dubbed by Mr. Chapman for the way she organizes games and makes sure everyone plays by the rules. And… Zara is quite attached to her moniker. The new neighbors have two children, Naomi and Michael who will be attending the local Jewish school. Feeling left out when her best friends Gloria and Jade seem to be more interested in setting up a clubhouse with the new girl, Zara decides it may be time to do something on her own for a change. She has been browsing the Guinness Book of World records, so how hard can it be to break a world record? Think again Zara. She Attempts a try at the longest tap-dancing, biggest sidewalk chalk drawing, and most hours spent hula hooping all to end poorly. Zara is beginning to feel increasingly alone in her record-breaking quest and starts to wonder if sharing her Queenship and making a new friend might end up being the best rule of all. In the end, Zara soon realizes it’s more fun to try things out with her friends, even if it means she doesn’t always get to make the rules.

Zara is a completely likeable even though she lets her little brother, Zyad get on her nerves. Her young worries are very relatable for an 11 year old and she has a realistic tween voice. The neighborhood is culturally diverse. Jade and Gloria are Black, and Naomi’s family is Jewish.

Scenes with Zara’s extended Pakistani family include frequent visits from her sweet grandparents and cool uncle, which add family warmth, as well interjected bits of Urdu and cultural references. Sprinkled throughout the book are cute and lively black and white illustrations that enhance the story.

My favorite part was how everyone is so neighborly and the warm community reminded me of where I grew up spending days outdoors with the neighbor kids making up ways to have fun. I know this is a tired issue, but I have to say there is no mention of screen device uses among the kids. Just kids inventing their own fun.

A promising new series for 7-10 year old girls. This is the first instalment due out in April 2022 and Zara’s Rules for a finding Hidden Treasure is due out in a October 2022

This is the book I wish I had when I was growing up!! Hena writes super relatable Muslim characters for middle grade readers. I loved reading about Zara and it’s an adorable book.

I am super excited for this adorable book, and what is sure to be an awesome rest of the series about Zara Saleem (Zayd Saleem’s older sister)!

Zara loves being queen of her neighborhood and boss of all the rules in the games her and her friends play. But when a new girl moves to town, Zara feels like her friends abandoned her friendship for the new girl. In an effort to prove she is the coolest queen, Zara sets out to break a Guinness World record but after failing at tap dancing, chalk drawing, and hula hooping, Zara needs to find out what being a queen truly means…and the crown isn’t always meant to be shouldered alone!!

This book is set before Zayd Saleem series if you have read it, but either way can be read on its own!

I just adored this book!! I had a smile on my face the whole time and I can’t wait for my kids to read it. It was so fun to read and kid friendly!
It truly is a perfect book for the age group and one relatable to any backgrounds, and yet still so authentic and representative to the own voice Muslim Pakistani narrative of the author/character.

There is a lot of Desi rep, whether in the Urdu words (bakwas and buttkhameez made me laugh), lots of yummy food (nankhatai cookies, samosas, biryani), the amazing grandparents, chai and so much more.

Islam is mentioned throughout as well- an inshaAllah and a salaams, quran read, cultural hijab worn by Naano, praying, Eid leftovers. It wasn’t anything really super detailed but a natural part of the characters lives and mentioned enough to feel authentic but not overly preachy.

Naomi, the new girl, is Jewish and makes rugelach cookies, mentions Jewish school and a Bar mitzvha. I enjoyed that the story was multi-faith and multi cultural and included diverse characters who got along together and were friends without faith really ever being an issue.

My favorite part was how everyone was so neighborly and the community feel and fun writing style makes this book a def new favorite for us!!

This is a fun book about new kids in the neighborhood and new friendships. Zara thinks that if she can break a Guinness World Record and become the Queen of the neighborhood again. Along the way she learns some lessons about friendships and about herself.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

The neighborhood kids think Zara is agreeable and even Mr. Chapman calls her the “Queen of the Neighborhood.” When Mr. Chapman moves away, Zara finds out the new neighbors have a girl, Naomi, her age. When the other kids want to do things that Naomi suggests instead of what Zara wants to do, Zara decides she wants to break some world records from the Guinness Book to gain attention so she will stay “Queen of the Neighborhood.” All does not go to plan, and Zara finds it’s better to be a member of her group of friends than to be the Queen.