A Muslim's place in twenty-first century Western culture seems as insecure as it ever was. In her first novel, Does My Head Look Big in This?, lawyer Randa Abdel-Fattah attempts to portray the fact behind the fiction of Islam.

Sixteen-year-old Amal Abdel-Hakim is witty, intelligent and Muslim. One day, while power walking on the treadmill and watching a rerun of Friends, she decides that she is ready to wear the hijab (veil). It is a decision which not only shocks her family and friends, but also takes Amal herself by surprise. In a world - let alone a secondary school - full of prejudice, her decision is a brave one. Yet, despite the name-calling and discrimination, she is filled with an inner calm, as well as a desire for a new wardrobe to match her veil.

Randa Abdel-Fattah's novel, Does My Head Look Big In This?, is a funny and poignant portrayal of a young girl growing up in a world in which she seems to be 'Public Enemy Number One'. It is a subject that has a particular resonance today, and as a book offers an insight into Islam that appeals to all ages. The novel, conceived when she was 15, draws largely on Abdel-Fattah's own experiences of growing up in Australia. She explains that whilst writing the novel, she had both a specific goal and target audience in mind. "I really feel very passionately about how it feels for young Australian and Western Muslim teenagers to deal with prejudice and stereotyping in the war on terror context," she says. "I wanted to open up the world of a Muslim teenager as she grows up and tries to make her way in a western country."

Born to Palestinian and Egyptian parents, she describes herself as Palestinian-Egyptian-Australian-Muslim and has spoken in the past of her journey to come to terms "with… [her] identity hyphens". In the book, Amal, as an Australian-Muslim-Palestinian, has her own hyphens to deal with. She also has the regular teenage concerns, like thinking of witty retorts for the school bully and stopping herself from swooning every time she sees her teenage crush.

Abdel-Fattah grew up in Melbourne, where she attended a Catholic primary school before completing her education at an Islamic secondary school. She believes that it was this last environment which helped to secure her sense of identity and position in the world. "I felt that I was in a place where I wasn't suddenly a walking stereotype. I could just be myself, and that really helped me get an understanding of who I was," she explains. "It was things that I learnt in school from Muslims telling me, 'This is your country and you should make a contribution' that really empowered me."

By contrast, the fictional Amal has just left the security of her Islamic school for a grammar school where she is the only Arab Muslim. When she decides to start wearing the hijab she faces prejudice not only from her peers but also from members of the public, and even her own family. Abdel-Fattah carefully weaves details about Islamic culture into the story and successfully negotiates the fine line between informing and preaching. She manages to cram a lot into the 300 plus pages, dealing not only with issues inherent to her own religion, but also touching on Judaism, Catholicism, drugs, alcohol and anorexia.

Written predominately during her commute to work, the novel found a publisher in Pan Macmillan Australia and has since been published in more than five other countries, including the US and the UK. Abdel-Fattah's second book, Ten Things I Hate about Me, is due out in Australia during the autumn. It tells the story of a young Australian-Lebanese girl, who in the face of extreme racism is propelled to deny her ethnic identity. Attending a school with high racial tension, she anglicises her name and dyes her hair blonde to distance herself from her background. Abdel-Fattah explains that it is not uncommon for Muslims to "withdraw to the safety of anonymity" rather than brave prejudice and hatred. The protagonist is a stark contrast to Amal, who feels strongly about her Islamic identity. "This is not the case with all Muslims," Abdel-Fattah says. "There are some who go completely the other way because they don't have the courage to face up to people's racism."

Abdel-Fattah is an intelligent woman with a lively sense of humour. She is involved in Palestinian human rights campaigns and various Australian Muslim women's networks, and she speaks candidly about the prejudice she has experienced.

She believes that many of the problems can be laid at the door of the press. In her opinion the media perpetuates myths about Islam through "lazy connections between words and sentiments".

"It really shakes your sense of identity and your sense of belonging," she says. "I guess it is just the constant feeling that you are negotiable, that somehow you are a houseguest; that it is not your country and that you should feel grateful to be here."

In the novel, although Amal's experiences do highlight many of the issues surrounding the acceptance of Muslims, it is perhaps the story of her friend Leila, which most fundamentally challenges Western perceptions of Islamic intolerance and female oppression. Leila's mother, misguided and uneducated, tries to deny her daughter an education and forces her into an early marriage under the auspices of religious reverence. The treatment of women is one of the largest misconceptions of Islamic teachings in the West, where images of women wearing the burka (full body covering) and stories of abuse are commonplace. However, in Islamic teachings, the choice to wear the veil is a woman's own, a message that this novel clearly stresses. Abdel-Fattah says that the oppression of women is the result of tradition and culture, not religion. "Leila is based on people I grew up [with]. Girls who lived in families that were really ignorant about Islam and confused culture with religion, and then tried to use that religion to deny girls their Islamic rights to an education," she explains.

Abdel-Fattah's own parents were supportive. When she graduated from her Islamic high school with an international baccalaureate, she went on to study law. At 17, facing prejudice in the legal profession, she took the agonising decision to relinquish the hijab in order to pursue her chosen career path. "It was a matter of looking at experiences of friends who had been told to take it off and that then they would be employed… [combined] my own general knowledge about the discrimination against Muslim women in employment," she says.

At the moment, Abdel-Fattah does not wear the veil and despite some misgivings has come to terms with her decision. She stresses that the hijab is by no means the most important part of being a female Muslim, a point which also comes across strongly in the novel. Abdel-Fattah is a practicing Muslim who believes that the day-to-day realities of her job would make wearing the hijab impossible. "The whole corporate culture for women in general is difficult, let alone wearing the hijab, especially in the legal field," she says. "We pride ourselves on our liberalism and our emancipation, but when you look at the corporate world it is not all that fantastic for women. Add a hijab to that and you are setting yourself up for an even greater challenge."

In the current climate, universal understanding and acceptance of Muslims seem a long way off. Does My Head Look Big in This? addresses the myths surrounding Muslims and successfully shatters many misconceptions.. More importantly, it is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl growing up in Australia who enjoys hanging out with her friends, putting on make-up and chatting to boys; a normal girl in fact, who just happens to be Muslim.