Fall 2025

Zeyna Lost and Found

  • Interest Level: Grade 4 - Grade 7
  • Reading Level: Grade 5

In 1970, twelve-year-old Zeyna has grown up in London but has never quite felt like she fits in.

Her monotonous life is suddenly interrupted when Zeyna’s parents decide to visit their native Pakistan—where Zeyna feels she doesn’t fit in either. But then her parents disappear, leaving behind a string of clues that connect them to an international jewel heist. Along with her annoying little brother and her clever Pakistani cousin, Zeyna sets out to find her parents and clear their names. Along the way, she discovers that being shaped by two cultures doesn’t have to mean she’s always an outsider.

Format Your Price Add
979-8-7656-3913-9
On pre-order until 09/09/2025
$19.99
979-8-7656-7341-6
On pre-order until 09/09/2025
$24.99
Available at all major wholesalers and distributors. Save 25% off list price on library bound hardcovers and all eBook and eBook with Audio editions when you buy direct! Digital purchases will be accessed on Lerner Digital Bookshelf. An account will be created for you after purchase.
Interest Level Grade 4 - Grade 7
Reading Level Grade 5
Category Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diversity, SEL: A Self-Awareness, SEL: B Self-Management, Social Emotional Learning
Copyright 2025
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Carolrhoda Books ®
Language English
Number of Pages 336
Publication Date 2025-09-09
Text Type Fiction—Mystery
BISACS JUV028000, JUV001000, JUV016000
Dewey [Fic]
Dimensions 5.25 x 7.5
Features Author/Illustrator biography, Author/Illustrator note, and Reviewed

Author: Shafaq Khan

Shafaq Khan is a mom and lawyer. Born to Pakistani parents, she grew up in a small port city in Saudi Arabia, along the Persian Gulf, called Jubail Industrial City. Shafaq attended college in New York City, majoring in political science and Middle Eastern and Asian languages and cultures, before heading to law school. She worked for nearly a decade as a legal services attorney, representing low-income people with disabilities facing eviction and benefits issues. In this role, Shafaq became acquainted with people’s stories—the ones we tell and the ones we don’t—and learned to listen to the stories beneath the surface. Shafaq works at Stanford Law School and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

“An entertaining cross-border adventure, sure to thrill readers.”—Kirkus Reviews

Deron R. Hicks

“Once I started, I could not put it down. I sat up far too late finishing Zeyna’s story; I had to see how it would end . . . An absolute winner.”—Deron R. Hicks, author of The Van Gogh Deception