Author Session: Raidah Shah Idil

About the Session

Author Raidah Shah Idil will discuss her latest book, How to Free a Jinn, a fast-paced middle fiction fantasy featuring a curious girl discovering a big family secret. Full of intrigue, humour, warmth, action, jungle spirits, a perilous unseen realm and ghostly battles.

Insyirah's calm, orderly world falls into chaos when her proud nenek (grandmother) has a bad fall, and Insyirah and her mother must move back to Malaysia to take care of her.

Her new home holds wild and dangerous mysteries, and while finding her feet, Insyirah discovers a shocking secret: the women in her family can control jinn – powerful, ancient jungle spirits – and, one day, she will inherit one of her own. What's more, her new school is haunted by an evil spirit determined to force her out of Malaysia.

As Insyirah discovers the fascinating ways of the seen and unseen worlds, she finds that risk is everywhere. And when her family situation changes, she must gather all her resilience to overcome unexpected obstacles and make a life-changing decision.

Enchanting, action-packed and mysterious yet also warm and funny, this page-turning middle-grade fantasy announces a fabulous new talent.

About the Author

Raidah Shah Idil was born in Singapore, grew up in Sydney, Australia, studied and worked in Amman, Jordan and now lives in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia with her husband, three children and mother-in-law. Raidah earned her BA in English and BSc in Psychology from the University of New South Wales and her Diploma of Counselling from the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors.

Raidah loves ginger tea, noodle soup and dreams of uninterrupted sleep. Raidah’s debut Middle Grade fantasy novel, How To Free A Jinn, was published on September 3rd by Allen and Unwin.