Drew Saunders, journalism major at Eastern Michigan University, has written and published his very own novel, Hasan. Hasan is a fictional story of a 15-year-old boy braving the difficulties of the Middle East’s Civil War by himself and whilst caring for his younger siblings. The story illustrates Hasan’s journey of trying to leave the war-corrupted country in his horizons.
As a child, Saunders was a storyteller amongst his friends. In middle school, he was bullied and this experience stirred his interest in writing. Saunders began to record his comebacks in a personal work titled, Babble. It started out as a place to document comebacks, however now Babble is a 6,300-page compilation of miscellaneous thoughts, ideas and stories from his years as a writer.
Since 2012, Saunders has written at the Eastern Echo and now maintains the position of a senior staff writer.
An article about a boy caught in uprisings of the Arab Spring inspired Saunders to write Hasan. The young boy described in the inspirational article was arrested, tortured and later murdered by the government. This tragic story upset Saunders and he focused his anger towards writing.
The author’s purpose of this book is to alter current stigmas about the Middle East. The 9/11 event devised a negative image for the Middle East and Saunders aspires to stimulate readers to look beyond common misconceptions and learn more about Middle Easterner’s. Saunders hopes people will realize, “These are just regular people trying to live normal lives, at least not die.”
Hasan by Drew Saunders has won sixth place in the Young Adult Action category from readersfavorite.com. His book is also a competitor in the Young Adult Fiction category for the 2016 eLit Awards.
Follow this link to view the book trailer for Hasan by Drew Saunders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVClTibd244&feature=youtu.be. Hasan is available for purchasing through Amazon or glendowermedia.com.
