THE BIKER GIRLS

Pakistani artist and activist Shehzil Malik's empowering picture book celebrates girls carving out the right to ride bikes, in a society where it's traditionally been only allowed for boys.

Zoey has never ridden a bike, as most people in her part of the world feel it's strictly for boys. So when Sophie and Maya invite her to ride with them in the park, and offer to teach her how, she's beyond excited. And once she gets the hang of it, she falls in love with the feeling of flying on her bike. But when the girls decide to leave the security of the park and venture into the city, it does not go smoothlythe people are not used to seeing girls riding bikes! Could Zoey's dad be right that it's not safe for girls to ride? Or is there something the friends can do to challenge the status quo about girls on bikes?

Inspired by the author's experiences, this empowering story shows that while the rights some of us might take for granted aren't enjoyed by everyone, change is possible!

Shehzil Malik (Shehzil.com) is a designer and illustrator with a focus on socio-political topics, women's narratives and feminism. She also illustrated the picture book A Girl Called Genghis Khan: How Maria Toorpakai Wazir Pretended to Be a Boy, Defied the Taliban, and Became a World Famous Squash Player (by Michelle Lord), and The Biker Girls is her debut picture book as an author and illustrator. She works on social impact projects through digital art, publications, textiles, and public art. She was a contributing artist and panellist at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2019 and previously worked as an art director at Ogilvy & Mather, Lahore. Her commercial practice includes clients like Oxfam, Malala Fund, Marvel, the New York Times, GIZ, and Google. She lives in Lahore, Pakistan.