Samiya Khan is the latest addition to the club of Jeddah authors. She is, however, different in that she is only 10. Her age notwithstanding, she has produced a novel, a detective novel entitled “Gurlz Club: The Gold Ring.” In an age in which many children waste much of their time in front of computer and television, it is indeed commendable that Samiya Khan not only tried but even succeeded in writing a book.

The inspiration for the 118-page book which is divided into 30 chapters seems to come from Nancy Drew mysteries and “The Hardy Boys”. The author’s team of young sleuths consists of two sisters, Muniza and Samiya, and their cousin, Anam. They all study in the same class and call themselves “The Gurlz Club.” The mystery revolves around a teacher’s lost ring, and the reason the Gurlz Club is intent upon finding it is that the teacher is horrible and won’t stop teaching them until the ring is found! There are many other indications of a child’s imagination, most notably her tendency to paint the world in black and white — a way of looking at the world which is common to all children of her age.

The irritating thing about the book is a clear lack of editing which hampers a lot of good writing. All writers, even the number one best sellers, have their books edited. The initial draft of a book is never error-free, and writers everywhere in the world acknowledge this. This is the greatest problem with Samiya Khan’s book. It is raw and has not been fine-tuned. The result is that at many points in the book, the story gets sloppy and starts dragging.

But it is not as if the book is without positives. Even at 10, Samiya has shown incredible narrative prowess and seems to have a natural talent for engaging curiosity. Both of these qualities are great assets and if worked upon seriously can take her to dizzying heights. Apart from this, Samiya also has a surprisingly well-developed vocabulary and a very sound thought process.

All in all it is a good effort. And if she strives to improve, she will well become a writer to watch out for. Her father Dr. Khalid A. Khan, an assistant professor at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz University, says he and his wife, also a teacher, had no idea that Samiya was writing a novel. The only person in the family who knew was her sister, two years older than Samiya. When she broke the news to her parents that she had written a novel, they were surprised and decided to get it published. We are glad they did.