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 smoothly--the 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 visual artist who focuses on feminist topics and women’s narratives. The Biker Girls is her picture book debut as an author and illustrator, and 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), as well as the cover for Aisha Saeed’s Amal Unbound and Omar Rising. She often works to examine socio-political questions around gender-based violence, injustice, and freedom using digital art, publications, textiles, and public art. She is a Fellow at the Universität der Künste Berlin, as well as a Fulbright scholar. Her commercial practice includes clients like Oxfam, Malala Fund, Marvel, New York Times, GIZ and Google. She lives in Berlin, Germany.