Keep Your Head Up

A Mother’s Story of Chasing Joy in the Face of Grief

A USA Today National Bestselling Book!

A testament to the depth of familial love and our ability to endure in the face of childhood terminal illness.

Keep Your Head Up is the incredible tale of one family’s path to perseverance in the face of devastating odds. When author Dr. Tasha Faruqui gave birth to her second daughter, Soraya, she knew immediately that something was wrong. Yet as years passed and every medical test for Soraya came back normal or inconclusive, Tasha began to realize that science doesn’t always have the answers, and there are some issues in life that simply cannot be fixed. Yet, we can continue to find happy moments and celebrate the beauty of what we have.

This story gives a voice to parents and loved ones of terminally ill children, illuminating the way to comfort, community, and unbreakable hope. This book discusses terminal illness with raw honesty, demonstrating how families can provide transparency to life-limited children around a terminal diagnosis, comfort them when they are afraid of what comes next, and continue to embrace life despite ongoing challenges. With beautiful narration and a heartfelt perspective, Keep Your Head Up testifies to the true depth of familial love and the hard things we can endure with grace and resilience.

100% of Book Proceeds will be Donated to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Make-A-Wish Foundation

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This book:

  • Provides guidance, hope, and understanding to parents and caregivers of terminally ill children

  • Tells a story that will resonate with families facing elusive diagnoses, fickle healthcare systems, and emotional turmoil

  • Offers hope that it is possible to find joy in the face of tragedy and give sick children the gift of a fully lived life

  • Presents the balanced and relatable perspective of an award-winning pediatrician and parent to a child in hospice

Who is this book for?

Parents, family, and friends of terminally ill children, as well as healthcare professionals and educators, will appreciate Keep Your Head Up for its candor and its value as a guide to moving through a situation no family should have to face.

• Parents, Family, and Friends of Terminally Ill Children

This book gives a voice to parents and loved ones of terminally ill children. With beautiful narration and raw honesty, it is a heartfelt companion offering comfort, clarity, and hope through the hardest moments.

• Healthcare Professionals

Drawing from both a medical and deeply personal perspective, this story offers a rare and essential glimpse into the emotional world of families navigating pediatric terminal illness—reminding providers of the lasting impact of empathy, presence, and truly listening.

• Educators

A compassionate resource for teachers and school staff supporting children and families facing life-limiting diagnoses. This book offers insight into grief, resilience, and how to create safe spaces rooted in care, communication, and understanding.

Praise for Keep Your Head Up

  • “Dr. Tasha Faruqui's Keep Your Head Up is an insightful journey through the challenges and triumphs of raising a child with medical needs. As the CEO of Make-A-Wish America, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of a wish in bringing hope, strength and joy to children and their families. Dr. Faruqui's heartfelt narrative beautifully captures this perspective, showcasing the resilience that defines the Make-A-Wish experience. This book is an inspiring reminder that even in the face of adversity, joy and hope can be found.”

    Leslie Motter, President & CEO of Make-A-Wish America

  • “Anticipatory grief can feel messy and isolating. But in Keep Your Head Up, Tasha Faruqui manages to paint her devastatingly beautiful journey with relatable strokes—reminding us all that even while staring down grief, there is so much life to live.”

    Kelly Cervantes, USA TODAY bestselling author of Normal Broken

  • “In Keep Your Head Up, Dr. Faruqui speaks openly about some of the lesser-known aspects of parenting a child with medical complexity, including mental health issues, spirituality, sibling experiences, parental dreams and expectations, and learning to embrace an unexpected path. Readers of any background will find something in this book that resonates with them.”

    K. Jane Lee, MD, author of Catastrophic Rupture: A Memoir of Healing

  • “Tasha Faruqui's memoir Keep Your Head Up is a story of becoming. Who we chose to be, and who life requires us to become. In this beautiful pager turner, the reader is left breathless by what life and parenting can truly ask of us. This beautifully written book offers so many often-left unsaid truths about grief and loss written plainly on the page. On every page we are gifted a deep understanding of what it means to be wholly human in the most deeply spiritual way.”

    Meghan Riordan Jarvis, trauma and grief therapist, author of Can Anyone Tell Me: Essential Questions About Grief & Loss

  • “Parents, providers, and caregivers will find themselves deeply seen in these pages. With the heart of a mother and the insight of a physician, Dr. Faruqui shows us how to live and love even in life’s most uncertain terrain.”

    Kacie Gikonyo, RN, Death Doula, and founder of Death Doula School™

  • “Keep Your Head Up is a powerful, heartfelt journey through grief, faith, resilience, and redemption. With raw honesty and hard-won wisdom, Tasha offers more than just a story—she offers hope. This book doesn’t shy away from the weight of loss, the depths of despair, or the questions that often go unspoken in the wake of tragedy. But through it all, it radiates courage—the kind that inspires you to face your own pain and keep going. Whether you’re walking through the valley of loss yourself, loving someone who is, or simply longing to live with more intentionality and grace, this book will meet you where you are—and lift you higher. It’s not just a book you read. It’s a book you feel.”

    Whitney Lyn Allen Gadecki, certified grief coach, widow, and author of Running in Trauma Stilettos and What Must Be Carried

  • “As a fellow rare-disease mom, I saw so much of my own story reflected in these pages. With unflinching honesty and a rare blend of medical insight and maternal tenderness, Tasha Faruqui offers a poignant and powerful memoir that captures the heartbreak and hope of parenting a medically complex child—her story is a masterclass in surrender, resilience, and the fierce pursuit of joy in the face of profound uncertainty.”

    Jessica Fein, author of Breath Taking: A Memoir of Family, Dreams, and Broken Genes

  • "Tasha's words are a masterclass in courage. In holding grief and joy at the same time. In creating meaning from suffering and making space for both the unbearable and the beautiful."

    Early reader feedback

  • “I couldn’t stop reading. It completely grabbed hold of me as if I was listening to her and I didn’t want to stop.”

    Early reader feedback

  • “This book was written as a healing tool for parents everywhere. The unexpected pain of grief and loss is such a huge thing in so many people’s lives. It's comforting to know that we're not alone in the struggles of humanity."

    Early reader feedback

  • "The whole human race needs to read this book to get these different perspectives and learn more empathy towards each other."

    Early reader feedback

  • "This is a book that will alternately make you laugh and cry. There are so many sad moments, but also moments of joy.”

    Early reader feedback

  • “This is a devastating but beautiful glimpse into the life of a family choosing joy when grief could overwhelm them.”

    Early reader feedback

  • “Faruqui's willingness to be vulnerable in sharing the story of her daughter's terminal condition tears at your heartstrings and simultaneously gives hope and joy.”

    Early reader feedback

About the Author

Tasha Faruqui, DO

is an award-winning pediatrician, public speaker, medical advocate, and author of the USA Today bestselling memoir Keep Your Head Up: A Mother’s Story of Chasing Joy in the Face of Grief (Jossey-Bass, 2025). Inspired by her daughter Soraya, who is currently in hospice due to a rare genetic disorder, Tasha is a passionate advocate for parents of medically complex children and those with limited life expectancies. She regularly brings her dynamic message of fierce and loving hope to medical students at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the top pediatric medical facility in the country, Make-A-Wish events, and her Instagram community, which focuses on raising awareness about anticipatory grief. Tasha was named a top doctor by Cincinnati Magazine in 2022, 2024, and 2025. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and three daughters—the Faruqui 5.

Keep Your Head Up Book Tour

  • Cincinnati, OH

    September 16 • 7PM

    Joseph-Beth Cincinnati in collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

    Event Details

  • Dallas, TX

    September 20 • 4PM

    Interabang Books

    Event Details

  • Seattle, WA

    September 25 • 7PM

    Third Place Books

    Event Details

  • Chicago, IL

    October 3 • 6PM

    Barbara’s Bookstore at Macy’s State Street

    Event Details

  • Mishawaka, IN

    October 5 • 2PM

    Barnes & Noble (store 2358)

    Coming Soon

  • Dowagiac, MI

    October 6 • 2PM & 7PM

    2PM Book Signing at Olympia Books | 7PM Reading and Q+A at Beckwith Theatre

    Coming Soon

  • Maplewood, NJ

    October 7 • 7PM

    [words] Bookstore | In conversation with Kelly Cervantes

    Event Details

  • Indianapolis, IN

    October 12 • 3PM

    Barnes & Noble (store 2372)

    Coming Soon

  • Ann Arbor, MI

    October 16 • 6:30PM

    Literati Bookstore | In conversation with Michelle Yang

    Event Details

  • San Leandro, CA

    October 23 • 6:30PM

    George Mark Children's House

    Coming Soon

  • Columbus, OH

    November 11 • 7PM

    The Book Loft of German Village

    Coming Soon

  • Milford, OH

    November 12 • 6PM

    The Bookmatters | Collaboration with Make-A-Wish

    Event Details

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