Kamal's Key

Honorable Mention - Arab American Book Awards 2025

A multigenerational and empowering story that explores the resilience of the human spirit to persist through life's most difficult challenges, using the powerful symbolism that the key has come to represent in the Palestinian cause for freedom and justice.

Rifk Ebeid is a Palestinian American Muslim writer, attorney, and pediatric speech language pathologist. She is the author of four children's picture books about Palestine, including "Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey To Palestine," "You Are the Color," "Birthday Kunafa," and "Kamal's Key." She is also the producer of "I Am From Palestine," an award winning animated short film about the Palestinian-American experience in school. Ebeid has a JD from George Mason University School of Law, an MA in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University, an MA in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Northern Colorado, and a BA in Political Science and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Florida.

Sophia Soliman is an illustrator, photographer and college lecturer with roots in Portugal and Egypt, now based in the bustling city of Cairo. Her work is all about capturing the depth of human emotions and finding ways to express them visually. She tries to include that in her art as well as her lectures of Portuguese in Ain Shams University. Sophia has published books in Egypt, the UK, the US, and the Netherlands. With a mix of cultural influences and a focus on emotional connection, Sophia aims to create artwork that not only looks good but also resonates on a deeper level with children, her students and, hopefully you. Her goal is to invite others to explore what it means to be human and to celebrate the full spectrum of feelings we all experience.