Lake George Jr.-Sr. High School senior Aazrum Tarar has transformed her drive to educate and raise awareness into a published achievement. What began as an independent study project during her sophomore year has grown into a fully illustrated and published children’s book, written and designed entirely by her.
As a sophomore, Tarar began writing and illustrating her own story, experimenting with character designs and visual symbolism to bring her ideas to life. “I had so much fun with the characters,” she said. “Each one needed to visually represent something larger. That’s what made the whole process so exciting, it felt like a jumping-off point to get them going.” By junior year, she shifted her focus to the publishing side, studying what works in the children’s book market, word count requirements, and the technical details of bringing a book to print.
Her book tells the story of a boy named Musa, who is confined to his rooftop in a bustling city in Pakistan. Musa struggles with illness and isolation, longing for a sense of belonging. Through encounters with various animals, each voicing their own worries, Musa begins to reflect on emotions, resilience, and community.
Tarar’s inspiration is deeply personal. With family roots in Pakistan and her own experiences navigating chronic illness, she drew heavily from her family photographs and cultural imagery to ground her illustrations. She also wanted the story to speak to a wider truth. “There are so many preventable global disparities when it comes to access to healthcare,” she explained. “When you write children’s literature, there has to be a layer for kids and a layer for parents. I want families to think about issues they might never experience firsthand.”
The moment her finished copy arrived was unforgettable. “It was so insane to have the book in my hands,” Tarar said, laughing. “I think I was running to the mailbox at 40 miles per hour.”
While she’s proud of the artistic side of her work, Tarar’s ambitions stretch beyond publishing. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine, with a focus on neuroscience. For her, writing and illustrating have become more than a creative outlet, they are a bridge between art, storytelling, and the compassion she hopes to bring into her future as a physician.
“I see it as the literary and artistic side of medical science,” she said. “Both are about understanding people and the way they see the world.”