Tag Archives: Lahore

Aug14

Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan

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Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan

I think I needed this 336 page middle grade book that gets parents out of the way and lets a trio of kids  hop from country to country to solve a mystery, track down the bad guys and save the day. Set in the 1970s in the UK and on the Hippie Trail between Lahore, Pakistan and Istanbul, Turkey, the book is a fast paced read with humor, heart, and adventure.  I absolutely love Zeyna’s snark and voice, and her relationship with her brother and cousin, ground the story and make you cheer for them even when their antics are incredibly dangerous and improbable.  As an Islamic school librarian, my one critique with the book is that I wish there was more/any Islam. I, at one point considered that they are not Muslim, and I’m not sure what the author identifies as, but she does thank “Al-Barr, for all that is good” in the acknowledgements, and Zeyna does mention an Eid party in passing, so while I’m still on the fence, I’m going to assume they are all Muslim.  Major beats in the plot are meeting at both the Badshahi and Blue Mosque, but none of the characters ever pray, or mention the names of prayers when the athan is heard.  When they see women in burkas and chadors, Zeyna stares, not connecting the clothing to hijab, that one would hope she would know. There is only one salaam in the whole book, and the story is predominately set in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey. Granted I am sensitive, but it almost feels like a deliberate exclusion to the point of going out of the way to not let those details be present.  There are plenty of Urdu and Punjabi words and titles and cultural commentary, so it doesn’t seem that the author was concerned about watering down authenticity, a theme of the book infact is finding your place and accepting yourself.  All that aside I really enjoyed pickpocketing, imaginative, determined, sarcastic, loyal detective Zeyna, and I think kids will join me in hoping this is the first in a series.

SYNOPSIS:
Zeyna is 12, and likes to imagine she is a detective on a case, sneaking and snooping, and roping her inventing younger brother Mahir to be her Watson. The city is on edge with the theft of the Shirin Jewel, a large Persian ruby, a case involving the 15, that Zeyna would love to solve.  When she sees a man with knife in London, who later seems to be following her and her mum, and then drops a paper with their street name on it, Zeyna is convinced this her chance to prove her self. A sudden trip to Pakistan though dampens her mood as the clues to the case will be left in the UK. She doesn’t stay down long though, as her parents start acting peculiar in Lahore, meeting with strange people, lying about why they suddenly made the trip at all, and when the police show up at the familial home to arrest her parents, they all discover that her parents have vanished.  Zeyna realizes her parents and the events in London are tied to the missing ruby, and with the help of Mahir and their cousin Amina they set off to solve the case and find her parents.

WHY I LIKE IT:
It’s hard to review a book like this without giving the twists and climax and resolution away, but more than once I gasped in delight when something happened on the page, and it crystalized where the book was going in my head.  Sure there were some particularly outlandish connections and a few plot holes, I even Googled when fax machines were invented, but I had a blast reading the book.  I loved the historical backmatter discussing the events in post partition Pakistan, a year before Bangladesh was independent, Soviet Union and UK competing over influence in Afghanistan, the discontent voices in Iran toward the shah, and the role of the Pudding House for messages in Turkey.  There are also discussion questions, a glossary, acknowledgements, and about the author at the end.

One tiny concern was the assumption that money could be stolen because the people around them are poor, it is just one paragraph, it isn’t a constant in the book, but it struck me as odd and stereotypical, and really not needed.

FLAGS:

Lying, stealing,  deception, pretending to be someone you are not, breaking and entering, eavesdropping, snooping, its a heist book!

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
This would be an awesome book club book or novel study read, I can’t wait for it to be released in a few weeks so that I can have my kids read it.

May6

Our World: Pakistan by Rumaisa Bilal illustrated by Nez Riaz

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Our World: Pakistan by Rumaisa Bilal illustrated by Nez Riaz

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This 20 page board book doesn’t come out for a few months, but it really is adorable, and I love that it centers Islam, so I’m putting it on your radar hoping you might preorder to show your support.  This ever growing series highlights different countries by OWN voice authors, focuses on simple text, cultural insight, linguistic samples, and bright illustrations.  The book follows a little girl from morning to bedtime and then highlights parts of the unique cultural aspects shared in the back-ish matter.

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The book starts with Subah Bakhair, good morning, written in Urdu and English, before AllahuAkbar and prayers are made. Then it is time to get dressed and deciding what to wear.  Little brother is in a swinging cradle, and paratha and lassi are shared with family.  The little protagonist then heads on the driverless orange trains with her Dada, grandfather, to do some shopping, concluding with bedtime du’aas.

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Board books are a little tricky for me as if they are more than just a few words on a very basic topic, they seem to be really jumpy or really wordy.  If they manage to not have long blocks of text, and stay on the intended audience’s level, they seem to be random in what is included.  This book is no exception. I am not sure how the words were chosen to include in Urdu script, why some words are given for specific things like shalwar kameez, but not for the joolah.  Not sure why the bathroom, getting ready for bed scene is included, and why lota is highlighted in the end, either.  I’m sure to someone else it seems logical, there is nothing “wrong” with it, it just seemed a little disjointed from the rest of the inclusions.

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I love the illustrations, they are engaging and joyful.  Desis have a decent amount of rep in children’s books, but a board book dedicated just to Pakistan widely available here in the west, that is OWN voice, features Islam, and well done, really is delightful to see, alhumdulillah.

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You can preorder your copy here

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Oct3

The Moon from Dehradun: A Story of Partition by Shirin Shamsi illustrated by Tarun Lak

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The Moon from Dehradun: A Story of Partition by Shirin Shamsi illustrated by Tarun Lak

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I’ve read this book numerous times: sometimes for the text, sometimes for the tone, sometimes to slowly immerse myself in the pictures. I know the basics of my own family’s journey to Pakistan, and this book added to that understanding. I like that it forced me to slow down and to really appreciate what partition was for both sides, from a child’s perspective. Pakistan and India gained freedom from British rule 75 years ago. Nearly every Pakistani or Indian you know today, has a parent or grandparent that lived through it. It is not history from long ago, it is still very much with us, and no I’m not talking about the lingering effects of colonization, I’m talking family stories, and loss of property and wealth, memories of the journey, the terror, the fear, the relief, the determination. This book is one story, perhaps the first mainstream published in the west, of one family’s experience. There could be a thousand more books and they would all be different, all powerful, all reflective. I love that this book is Pakistani authored, Indian illustrated, I love that it offers pages with no words at all. I love that a child’s perspective for such a monumental event is told for other children. There is a lot there for desi readers to unpack, and consider, there is also a lot there for non desi’s to be made aware of, and I hope that you will seek out this book no matter who you are, and share it.

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The book starts with excitement from Azra about an upcoming train ride, even though her family has lived in Dehradun, at the base of the Himalayas, for generations. Suddenly though there is yelling outside because people are afraid, and her Abba runs in saying they have to leave now. Ammi, Abba, Azra, and the baby “Chotu,” rush out the door, leaving the cooking dinner still on the stove. When they get to the train, Azra realizes she has left her beloved doll, Gurya behind. They cannot go back for her.

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Azra blames Chotu, for making her forget her doll, for taking her parent’s attention, yet as the days and nights on the train reveal tired people, sad faces, and fear, Azra finds comfort in her little brother’s embrace.

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When they arrive in Lahore, they are met with food, and shelter. They are given a house that looks like the owners left in the same manner that they had to flee. There are balls of dough with a rolling pin, laundry strewn about, and even a doll left abandoned under a bed.

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The book concludes with a map, a glossary, and an informative author’s note addressing pre-partition, partition, and the author’s own family story. There is hardship and frantic upheaval, but peace and welcome too. The illustrations illuminate the text and show the powerful emotion when words sometime simply don’t exist.

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The book is not political or even religious. There is an Indian flag when they leave and a Pakistani flag when they enter, there are sounds of athan, and packing of a rehl, and a comparison to Eid, and the doll at the end has a bindi on her forehead. The book does not make one side out to be in the right or in the wrong, if you do not know that partition of the subcontinent was a mass migration based on religion and the chaos further exacerbated by the British, this book will not spell it out for you.

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I preordered mine here and it can now be purchased from all major book sellers.

Jun21

Roots and Wings: How Shahzia Sikander Became an Artist by Shahzia Sikander and Amy Novesky illustrated by Hanna Barczyk

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Roots and Wings: How Shahzia Sikander Became an Artist by Shahzia Sikander and Amy Novesky illustrated by Hanna Barczyk

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At 40 pages, this biography about Pakistani born artist Shahzia Sikander is filled with culture and experiences.  The story shows the influences of her family, the city of Lahore, her love of math, and her art education have in shaping her in to the artist she is today.  The book features photographs of her work at the end, but I found it odd that she didn’t illustrate the book herself.  The playful blocky pictures and text would appeal to first or second graders with some assistance, but would be better suited for readers a bit older if they are unfamiliar with some of the cultural and artistic vocabulary.  There is no mention of Islam in the book, when researching, it says her family is Muslim.  It seems she went to Catholic school, and a road trip was taken that included visiting the Sistine Chapel.  A few illustrations show people in hijab and it mentions the athan ringing out five times a day.  The book was interesting, but I wish I could have found it at the library, rather than purchasing it.  I don’t know that it will be read more than once, but that speaks more to personal preference, rather than the quality of the book. If you enjoy fine art, are from Lahore, are a fan of Shahzia Sikander’s work, you will definitely enjoy this book.

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The story starts with a girl stepping in to a painting with many rooms, filled with many people in a joint family.  It is her (Shahzia’s) home, and her family.  The rooms are filled with ancient fables, Russian fairy tales, poetry, English, Urdu, Bollywood songs, and American Westerns.

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Outside is the city of Lahore, in Pakistan, streets rich in smell and color and sound exist: orange jalebi and strings of jasmine, sounds of Qawwalis and pop music, the melodic call to prayer from the minarets.  As a child she plays cricket and climbs trees and flies kites.  Up on the roof she trains pigeons and looks out at the horizon.  

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When it gets hot, her family heads north.  They once traveled all the way to Rome.  She visited the Sistine chapel, her and Michelangelo share a birthday.

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At school she is shy. She loves math, as it is a tool to understand the world.  She finds she is also good at drawing birds, and people.  She studies miniatures with a magnifying glass.  Eventually training in miniature painting with a master.  Art becomes her ticket to new worlds.

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She heads off for America, taking her roots with her, but once she arrives she cannot leave.  Her passport is the wrong, color.  She lives in New York and cannot return to Pakistan for nine years.  Now she can travel and soar and share her work with the world.

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There is a glossary at the end and more information about Shahzia and her paintings.

 

Jan29

Amina’s Song by Hena Khan

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Amina’s Song by Hena Khan

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This middle grades companion book to Amina’s Voice, reads in much of the same way as a lot of Hena Khan books in that I feel she is presenting Pakistani Muslims in America to non Pakistani non Muslims in the west.  In the first quarter or so of this 288 page book that takes place in Lahore,  I felt a different tone than really spoke to me. Granted I am (half) Pakistani and Muslim, but when Amina says good-bye to her family, I was in tears.  It was relatable and powerful and so real to me that I got emotional, the rest of the book, sadly, not so much.  It’s not to say that it isn’t well written, I just feel like the majority of the book are borderline issues for many Muslims looking to see themselves in literature: music, school dances, boy/girl friendships, and when presented that a religious family is permitting and celebrating of these issues, it seems to be trying to make us fit in, rather than support us for holding to a different perspective.  There is a lot of good in the book about finding your voice, sibling and family relationships, friends, and challenging stereotypes, that I think the book would be great for some 3rd graders and up.  However, if your family is against the aforementioned potential flags you may find the book that talks about reading Quran and praying makes the characters harder to separate from your own kids, you may want to hold back in recommending it to them.  Don’t get me wrong the book is clean and well done, I just know from personal experience that sometimes when characters do things that you family doesn’t agree with it is easier to say that those things are for them, not us, but when the family doing them looks a lot like your family, you have to be ready to explain the differences.  

SYNOPSIS:

Amina is in Lahore exploring the city with her brother and cousins.  She is visiting her uncle who had come to visit in Amina’s Voice and as the trip comes to an end, she doesn’t feel like she is the same person that came to Pakistan a month ago.  She is closer to her older brother Mustafa, she feels connected to her extended family, and she is growing more comfortable with pieces of her self she didn’t know existed before.  Excited to go back to America and tell her friends about her summer, she finds they really aren’t interested, and she is unsure how to keep her promise to her uncle to show the world the beauty of Pakistan.  

Once school starts, Amina is assigned a wax museum project in Social Studies that requires her to research and present a person that has changed the world.  She picks Malala, but when she explains to her class at a midway check how Malala was shot for going to school, rather than feel inspired, her classmates feel sorrow that Pakistan is so backward and oppressive, the complete opposite of what Amina felt surrounded by such vibrancy and strength while in Pakistan.  Determined to set things right, she reaches out to her cousins and uncle in Pakistan, except her uncle is back in the hospital and worry consumes Amina and her family, who are torn with being so far away from their loved ones. 

At the same time Amina is feeling like her best friends Emily and Soojin are drifting apart.  Emily is in chess club, Soojin is running for class president, and Amina just wants to write music, produce songs and sing.  There is a new kid Nico, who is half Egyptian, and has music computer software that when he offers to help Amina produce music she says yes, and he starts spending a lot of time at Amina’s house.   

Friends new and old along with immediate and extended family, love and support Amina and cheer her on as she finds her voice to share the beauty of Pakistan, fight for her friendships, and be content with all her pieces that make her unique.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that Amina realizes her culture is more important than following rules and her grade.  She breaks from the assignment to spread light on more strong, brave Pakistani women than just the one, and is ok with her grade suffering as a result.  I love that she realizes the headlines don’t reveal reality and that you have to see more than one side to the story.  I love that she is religious and that the imam is cool and that her whole family is service oriented and compassionate.  I love that her friends are diverse and their families are close friends as well.  The sense of community established is carried over from the first book, and I think it gives the book a level of comfort that is pure and honest.

I have issues with Amina’s family being ok with her going to the school dance.  She goes with her female friends, but to me it seems like a conversation is missing or she shouldn’t be going.  It is mentioned that Mustafa went alone to a high school dance, but never explains why.  Similarly, Amina is nervous about having Nico over and her family at times is bothered by it, but again it never specifies why.  I feel like if there was a conversation about why her family would be weird about it or why she is nervous to tell her mom that the friend coming over is a boy then when Amina reminds her mom that her best friend in kindergarten was a boy and everyone was fine with it, or that when her mom asks if there is anything more than friendship going on, the reader would know why it is such a big deal.  It seems to skip the explanation part and jumps from the nervous to have a boy who is a friend, to defending the friend being a boy, and skip the why part.

I didn’t get why Nico identifies as Muslim and Christian but never says salam, and I especially didn’t get why Amina’s mom was more relaxed when she thought he might be Muslim.

I also wish that after the whole emphasis on music, that the lyrics would have at least been shared. I was looking forward to it and was let down by it not being shared.

FLAGS:
Nothing blatant.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION: 

I don’t think that this would work level wise or content wise for a middle school Islamic school book club.  

Apr1

The Jinni on the Roof: A Ramadan Story by Natasha Rafi illustrated by Abdul Malik Channa

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The Jinni on the Roof: A Ramadan Story by Natasha Rafi illustrated by Abdul Malik Channa

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This 37 page culturally Pakistani Ramadan story is super sweet and fun.  There is so much I feel like my critical self should not like about the story, but by about page 15 each time I read it, I find my self full on smiling and thoroughly enjoying little Raza’s antics and his endearing grandma’s method for dealing with him.

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Raza is too young to fast, but with a house full of relatives gathered for Ramadan, Raza awakens to the sound of his uncle snoring before the siren to signal the start of fasting and the azan calling the worshippers to pray echo through Lahore.  Before he can go back to sleep, however, he hears the cook heading up the stairs to wake up grandma and then the smell of the food hits him and he wants a paratha more than anything.

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Raza embarks on a mission that involves him sneaking up to the roof, pretending to be a jinni and scaring Amina the cook through the chimney to convince her to send up food and a blanket.  

Scared out of her wits, Amina gets the grandma, culturally wards off evil, and delivers the goods to the jinni on the roof.  But the joke is on Raza who is out-witted by his grandma and gets the punishment of washing dishes for the rest of Ramadan, and learning that fasting a whole day will take a lot of will power, if he couldn’t even wait a few hours to get his beloved parathas.

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The book informs the reader that the following year Raza is able to successfully fast, that he is rewarded with gifts and that all is well and forgiven.  There is a glossary, information about Ramadan and a recipe at the end of the story as well.

I love that the plan just happens, it isn’t premeditated or considered, so it takes the reader along for the ride as it is unfolding.  It isn’t a deep story, but there is room for discussion as to whether Raza was naughty, or just caught up in the moment.

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The book is illustrated well and with big 8.5 x 11 pages, the book is engaging for first and second grade readers and listeners, as there is a lot of text on the pages.  The book takes a bit to find its stride as the author tries to use Urdu words, show their Arabic counterparts and then describe them in English. 

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There is a lot of cultural stage setting with everyone in grandmas house, the traditions of the family, of Ramadan, etc.  I think Desi familiar kids will get the most out of the book, but theoretically Muslim kids and non Muslims too could learn and enjoy it too.  I wish jinn and jinni were explained just a bit in the text, not just in the glossary, along with why an 8 year old wouldn’t be fasting or be required to do so. 

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My own kids, aged 8, 9, and 12, struggled on the first two pages, but when I told them to keep reading they zoomed through the rest smiling and ended saying it was good while giggling and shaking their heads.  We are Pakistani American and I think they enjoyed seeing familiar words and phrases in the book and sympathizing with Raza as well, and his sneaky plan that almost nearly worked.