Searching for her buried friend after the mines collapse, twelve-year-old Pakistani mica miner Nura finds herself at the Sijj Palace, a luxury hotel for the dangerous and deceitful jinn, where she must discover the truth beneath the glitter or be trapped forever.

When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes

"Omar must contend with being treated like a second-class citizen when he gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school"--

"Even though he is confined to a wheelchair, a Pakistani boy tries to capture the most kites during Basant, the annual spring kite festival, and become "king" for the day. Includes an afterword about the Basant festival"--Provided by publisher.

"Omar is going on his biggest adventure yet--a trip to Pakistan! But his excitement about the trip is interrupted by some shocking news: his amazing teacher is not coming back to school, and no one will say why. When Omar and his friends start investigating, the hints they overhear and clues they find lead them to an alarming conclusion--it must be aliens! Omar has a huge imagination, but saving his teacher from aliens seems far-fetched even to him....