The Biker Girls
Hardcover – Picture Book, September 9, 2025
Penguin Young Readers Group · Hardcover · September 9, 2025
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.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- Zoey’s first bike rides open onto questions about who gets to ride in public.
- Themes
- Gender equality, Challenging social norms, Possibility of change
- Genres
- Activism & Social Justice, Girls & Young Women, Cycling Stories
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
Come Catch a DreamBrittany J. Thurman52% match
Navya Sings for NavarathriLakshmi Thamizhmani51% match
The Gift of EidShifa Saltagi Safadi50% match
Goodbye Spring, Hello SummerKenard Pak51% match
Fierce Aunties!Laurel Goodluck50% matchShares Girls & Young Women
For older readers: I Kick and I Fly, Shabanu, Mariam Sharma Hits the Road
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
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.
Continue reading
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!
Girls on Bikes
Zoey’s first bike rides open onto questions about who gets to ride in public.
Come here for
- Zoey learning to ride with Sophie and Maya
- Girls biking beyond the park
Expect
- A picture-book story about girls challenging limits on biking
- A city ride that does not go smoothly
Where it sits
| Cycling Stories | 73% |
|---|---|
| Girls & Young Women | 49% |
| Activism & Social Justice | 45% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Girls & Young Women
- Stories Set in the Middle East
- Cycling Stories
- Authors
- Shehzil Malik
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- September 9, 2025
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Gender equality · Challenging social norms · Possibility of change
- Reading lane
- Girls & Young Women