Nura and the Immortal Palace sparkles, even in the darkest of twists.” — Julie Abe, author of the Eva Evergreen series

M.T. Khan is a speculative fiction author with a penchant for all things myth, science, and philosophy. She focuses on stories that combine all three, dreaming of evocative worlds and dark possibilities. Her debut novel, Nura and the Immortal Palace, is due summer of 2022.

Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan, the middle grade fantasy follows 12-year old Nura, whose life is upended after the mines where she works collapse and she’s swept away to a luxury jinn hotel. But there are dark secrets buried underneath all that glitter and gold, and if Nura can’t find a way to escape, she and the other missing children may be bound to the hotel forever.

When she’s not writing, M.T. Khan has her nose deep in physics textbooks or glued to her CAD computer as she majors in Mechanical Engineering. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, she currently resides in Toronto, Canada, with a hyperactive cat and an ever-increasing selection of tea.

M. T.'s Featured Titles

Amir and the Jinn Princess

Jimmy Patterson |
Middle Grade

In this mesmerizing novel, a wealthy young boy searching for his mother teams up with a fiery jinn princess all while battling in a tournament of heirs—and trying to keep his life from changing forever.

Twelve-year-old Amir is one of the heirs to the Rafiq Bricks Company, a wealthy brick kiln business in Pakistan—except he wants none of it. Seeing straight through the jeweled smiles and transactional conversations, Amir would rather spend time in the courtyard garden, where he can almost feel his missing mother’s presence again.

Amir is devastated when his baba announces plans to remarry by the end of the summer, dropping all searches to find Amir’s mother. It’s all a business move, just like everything else in his life. His mother was the only one who allowed him to feel normal, but the last anyone’s seen of her was a year ago.

But Amir isn’t ready to give up yet—determined to find his mother before his life changes forever, Amir teams up with a high-spirited, wide-eyed, shape-shifting jinn princess named Shamsa. His exact opposite. The two make a deal—Shamsa will help Amir navigate the twisty and mysterious realm of jinn, and in exchange Amir must use his wits to help Shamsa win a tournament of heirs and put her on the throne.

Amir and Shamsa must contend with silver-tongued tricksters and magical rivals, and a truth far more devastating than Amir ever expected.…

Nura and the Immortal Palace

Jimmy Patterson |
Middle Grade

Aru Shah and the End of Time meets Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers into the little-known world of Jinn.Nura longs for the simple pleasure of many things—to wear a beautiful red dupatta or to bite into a sweet gulab. But with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. But it’s not just the extra rupees in her pocket Nura is after. Local rumor says there’s buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family’s life forever.

Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother’s cautionary tales. Yet they aren’t nearly as treacherous as her mother made them out to be, because Nura is invited to a luxury jinn hotel, where she’s given everything she could ever imagine and more.

But there’s a dark truth lurking beneath all that glitter and gold, and when Nura crosses the owner’s son and is banished to the working quarters, she realizes she isn’t the only human who’s ended up in the hotel’s clutches. Faisal and the other missing children are there, too, and if Nura can’t find a way to help them all escape, they’ll be bound to work for the hotel forever.

Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan and full of hope, heart, and humor, Nura and the Immortal Palace is inspired by M.T. Khan’s own Pakistani Muslim heritage.

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Myth & Magic

Target age group: 8+
Length: 60 min

Traverse into the jinn realm with M.T. Khan and discover the bewitching history of jinn. Later, with an interactive quiz and a fascinating lesson, the author will explore one of the real-life themes of Nura and the Immortal Palace – bringing to light different situations of child labour across the world.

Details:
·      Introduction to lore from cultures across the world
·      Teach young students about child labour and struggles children face
·      Interactive quiz about those different challenges
·      All themes are prevalent from the book

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Discover Your Inner Writer

Target age group: 12+
Length: 60 min

Work alongside M.T. Khan as she brings out the inner writer in all of us. From the importance of storytelling to pouring your emotions down on paper, the author celebrates writing for yourself with an interactive workshop meant to get youth more productive through a therapeutic writing session.

Details:
· Introduce how storytelling has framed the world
· The importance of storytelling and how it transforms us
· Writing as a process of healing and exploring yourself
· Interactive writing lesson where participants will write three page stories for themselves

MT Khan News

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month
Fold Kids Book of the Month
CBBC Book Club Pick
Editors Choice in the Bookseller
Junior Library Guild Selection

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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