Mahbod Seraji moved to the US from Iran when he was 19. He studied at the University of Iowa and graduated with an MA in Film and Broadcasting and a PhD in Instructional Design and Technology. Back when he was a 10-year-old in Iran, Seraji fell in love with stories while sitting on his rooftop and reading a Farsi version of Jack London’s White Fang. He was enamored with the way stories could transport readers to places they had never visited (Seraji, Mahbod. “Home.” Rooftops of Tehran.)

On his website and in a note to the reader at the end of Rooftops of Tehran, Seraji says that one of the reasons he felt compelled to write the novel was to add a new perspective on how the world, especially the Western world, views Iran. By highlighting community and friendship in the lives of his characters, who are teenagers learning to navigate their emotions and lives in a politically charged environment, Seraji wanted to show that love, friendship, laughter, and grief are universal human traits and emotions. Seraji wanted to humanize the Iranian people and Persian culture, offering a counterpoint to Western media’s negative depictions of Iranians and Iran.