Today, we are delighted to reveal the cover for My Name is Zayn, a companion book to Fidan Meikle’s highly acclaimed debut My Name is Samim. Both covers have been illustrated by Zeynep Özatalay.
Included in this year’s Read for Empathy Collection and the National Year of Reading Booklist, My Name is Samim tells the story of a thirteen-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan, trying to build a new life in the UK. And now it’s time for his best friend Zayn to tell his story.
These heartbreaking, wry and uplifting novels are an accessible way for children to engage with these tough but important realities. In this guest post, Fidan Meikle shares more about Zayn and his story.
Guest Blog: Fidan Meikle
Author of My Name is Zayn
Dear Reader,
Stories often begin long before the first sentence is written. Zayn’s story began while I was still writing My Name Is Samim. But it wasn’t until I came across a number that stopped me in my tracks that I truly understood why it needed to be told.
Between 2021 and 2023, over four hundred unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing from hotels in the UK. In the official reports, there were no names. No faces. No histories. Just numbers.
But people are never just numbers.
That is why my books begin with the same three words: My name is… A name is more than a label. It is a claim. A declaration of existence. It says: I am here. I matter. I am not invisible.
Children who disappear into systems, into headlines, into statistics too often become unseen, unheard, and forgotten. I wanted my characters to have a life the reader could recognise, a voice they could hear, and a presence they would remember.
Like Samim in Book 1, Zayn would never be just “a victim.” Before danger entered his world, I wanted the reader to meet the boy who loves football, tells silly jokes, cares about others, and dreams of being reunited with his best friend. A boy full of hopes and fears. A boy full of life.
Zayn’s story speaks about missing asylum-seeking children and the systems that fail them. But it is also a song for the brave. For those who feel invisible, and for those who help them be seen.
Because when we take the time to really see and listen to each other, we stand together. And when we stand together, we are an incredible force.
My Name is Zayn is published on 20th August 2026 and is available to pre-order from Amazon.
Classroom resources for My Name is Samim are available on the Kelpies website.
Many thanks to the publisher and author for inviting BooksForTopics to exclusively reveal the new cover.
Readers may also be interested in the following booklists:
- Read for Empathy Collection
- Refugee Books for Children
- FCBG Children’s Book Award
- New and Upcoming Children’s Books
- Books for Year 7
- Children’s books about Community
- National Year of Reading Booklist
Browse our curriculum topic booklists for more inspiration.
Where next?
> Visit our Reading for Pleasure Hub
> Browse our Topic Booklists
> View our printable year group booklists.
> See our Books of the Month.