Tag Archives: Muslim Character

Mar5

Sadiq and the Ramadan Gift by Siman Nuurali illustrated by Anjan Sarkar

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Sadiq and the Ramadan Gift by Siman Nuurali illustrated by Anjan Sarkar

img_8554This 65 page early chapter book in the Sadiq Series does a great job of introducing Ramadan, giving a glimpse of Somali culture, and conveying a relatable and engaging story about friends with a lesson/reminder about the values of communication.  A group of boys hosting a fundraising iftar to help a school in Somalia have to figure out the logistics, the marketing, the cooking, and the execution, as they become socially aware and active in helping meet the needs of their community, both locally and afar.  This OWN voice tale doesn’t shy away from authentically drawing on religion and culture to make characters and a plot that all readers can enjoy.  The book is not preachy, but the characters know who they are in their manners, dress, speech, and environment.  A great book any time of year for first grade and up.

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SYNOPSIS:

With Ramadan starting in a few days, Sadiq and his friends at the Dugsi are reviewing the importance and values of Ramadan.  This year the masjid is raising money for a school in Somali and the students are encouraged to help, as sadaqah, or charity, is especially important during Ramadan.  The boys decide to host a fundraising iftar at the masjid and with parental help to coordinate with the Imam, the kids have to figure out how to get enough food, get the word out, get set up to take donations and more.  They make flyers, set up a website and shoot a small video.  The once excited Zaza, however, is no longer very enthusiastic in the Money Makers Club and Sadiq can’t figure out why, but with so much to do and little time to get it done, more friends and family are brought in to help, and things continue on.  When Zaza tries to tell Sadiq he wants to do his own fundraiser, Sadiq doesn’t want to listen.  I’m not going to spoil if the two friends work it out and how they handle the two ideas, but it is a good lesson in friendship, communication, and charity, Alhumdulillah.

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WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that the story starts with information about Somalia and words in Somali as well as a picture of the family.  There are activities and questions at the end as well as a glossary of religious, cultural, and English vocabulary words. The book doesn’t assume that the reader knows anything about Islam or Somalia, nor does it assumer that the readers don’t.  It strikes a balance of not talking down to the reader or getting too wordy.  It simply provides the information needed if you are curious, but allows the story and the boys dilemma to take center stage.  The whole series is remarkable in showing diversity and relatability with good quality story telling.  I think this is the only book in the series that has a religious theme, I could be mistaken.  The illustrations show the boys in kufis and the women in hijab.

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FLAGS:

None

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TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

Every elementary school library and every first through third grade classroom library should have this series.  I know my public library has it, and the copies I get from there seem to be worn and loved.  The age is too young for a book club, but would be great in small groups or for outside reading with the short chapters and engaging illustrations.

Feb26

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

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The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

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Usually when a book leaves me with a lot of questions, it is because the author’s writing was incomplete or flawed, this book however, left me with a lot of questions and I’m certain the author did this deliberately. Hence, I don’t know to be irritated or impressed that I care enough about the characters to want to know more. Considering I’m still emotionally attached to the two alternating voices in the book, I’m going to claim the latter, and just be grateful that I was privy to follow the two girls for 288 pages and let the impression the book left me with overpower the curiosity I have to know everything about their past and their futures. This middle grades read is absolutely wonderful and emotionally gripping. I think all kids will have a hard time forgetting the story and characters, and more importantly I think over time they will recall and re evaluate their own thoughts regarding the personal weight of school shootings, gun ownership, sibling loss, responsibility, and maybe even the possibility of time travel. I know this book will stay with me for a long time. This amazing, half-Middle-Eastern half-American author in her OWN voice book somehow manages to discuss a school shooting without being political or preachy and the result is memorable, heartbreaking, and powerful.

SYNOPSIS:

Told in alternating 12 year old voices: Quinn and Cora are neighbor girls that used to be best friends until Quinn’s brother stole his father’s guns and shot and killed students at his school before committing suicide. One of the classmates he killed was Cora’s older sister Mabel. It has been nearly a year since the incident, and since the girls last spoke, but on Cora’s 12 birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her door.

Cora is whip smart and grieving. She lives with her dad, a professor and immigrant from Lebanon who speaks little about his culture or religion to his kids, even though the kids want to know about their heritage and do identify as Arab American Muslims. She also lives with her grandma, her mom’s mom, despite the fact that her mom has left them. It never tells where she went or what happened, which I desperately wanted to know, but Cora doesn’t miss her, because Cora doesn’t remember her, and the family dynamic seemed to be working until Mabel is gunned down. The loss of Mabel is palpable as Cora recalls that she will one day be older than her older sister, and refuses to pack up or touch anything on her side of the room. Cora is in counseling and seems to have a supportive network of friends in her Junior Quiz bowl team, but she misses Quinn even though she can’t forgive her.

Quinn’s chapters begin with a small letter to her brother Parker: what she wants to say, what she feels, questions, memories, anger, disappointment, despair. They are short, but haunting and heartbreaking. Quinn’s home life is fraught with guilt and blame. Her mother has quit work and her father is always working. Her parents fight, a lot. Her mom blames her dad for owning the guns, her dad wants to move to give them all a fresh start, it isn’t pretty. Quinn often has a hard time getting her words out at the speed she wants, she calls it freezing. As a kid, Cora would help, but without Cora and with no one in the house willing or ready to listen to Quinn, Quinn is often left alone. At school Quinn is largely ignored as no one wants to be around the sister of the mass shooter, so she doesn’t try out for soccer, she has no friends, and no one to talk to get the help she so desperately needs.

Quinn has an idea about how to fix everything, and that is what is in the box. She is convinced that if she can go back in time, she can make everything right. The only problem is, she doesn’t understand all the science and needs Cora’s help. Together the two girls work to figure out a way to find a wormhole and fix the damage that occurred. Along the way the girls realize how much they need each other to heal, and the role forgiving yourself has in the process as well.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I am shocked at how deftly the book talks about a school shooting without talking about a school shooting. It is how the families feel in the day to day acts that follow a year later and how the girls are trying to carry on with the limited tools that exist for individuals dealing with the aftermath of such an act of terror. It doesn’t go in to the 2nd Amendment rights or detail the lack of legislation to curb such acts, it really stays on the two girls. The hope of finding a wormhole is really farfetched and perhaps unrealistic, but they are so desperate to believe, to find a way to make things right, that you hope for their sake that they are successful.

It is amazing to see from the sister of a shooter the isolation and pain she endures. I don’t know that I’ve really ever considered the larger families of the shooter when your heart is so devastated for the families of the victims. Occasionally you hear about the parents, but what about the siblings, cousins, distant relatives?

I desperately wanted to know where Cora and Mabel’s mom went. I was tempted to contact the author since it really was gnawing at me. I also wanted some answers as to why Parker did what he did, what hate he was spewing online, what were the signs, did he single out Mabel for being Muslim, while also appreciating that there is no satisfactory answers for any violence of this magnitude in fiction or real life.

Cora knows nothing of Islam and kind of wants to, I felt like this could have been explored a tiny bit more. Not in that she has to be religious, but I feel like after such a life altering event such as death, religion and what happens when one dies usually comes up and a person decides they are satisfied with an answer or not. The story isn’t in the immediate aftermath of dealing with the shock, but rather is a little after the event to presumably not have to deal with the raw emotion, and can focus on the pain and strength that comes with finding a new normal. I’d like to imagine at some point perhaps Cora and her dad talked about what happens after death, but the text doesn’t suggest that it was an issue of concern. She does wonder if Mabel was killed for being Muslim and asks Quinn about it. Quinn never defends or justifies what her brother does, nor does she pretend to know, she is grieving too. She is irritated that people try and define her religiosity to make themselves feel better and she does say the family occasionally fasts, makes duas, and they always celebrate Eid.

She talks a bit more about wanting to know more Arabic, saying that if you are 50% Arab you should at least know 50 words, and she only knows five. She wants to hear about her father’s life growing up, and know that side of her. It mentions that he wanted her to feel like she belonged in America, but I’d love to know more. Maybe what happened to his family, what brought him to America, why they opted not to give them more cultural names, etc..

I also enjoyed the slight science thread. It seems the author used to teach science and I love that the scientific method and various random facts find their way into the story.

POSSIBLE FLAGS:

The book talks about death, killing, suicide, and gun violence, but doesn’t relive the chain of events or detail what happened exactly. Quinn and another friend have crushes on boys in their class. There is a Fall Festival that the kids dress up for, but it isn’t called Halloween, and there is no mention of it. The book opens with Quinn’s birthday.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I would definitely read this as a middle school book club selection. It is engaging and gripping and a great book to have as an introduction to hard conversations with children. The author has a note at the beginning about her own children doing active shooter drills and having to face this real fear, and I think kids talking about it through fiction is a powerful tool to get them thinking and talking.

Feb22

Samira’s Trip to the Masjid by Yara Kaleemah illustrated by Aveira Cartoon

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I’m a big fan of books featuring BIPOC leads in everyday situations, but when the quality of the product is subpar, I truly am conflicted if I should mention the book, or just tuck it away and pretend I never read it.  I’ve had this book tucked away for a while now, but I am pulling it out to bring attention to the importance of editors, proofers and revising.  The bar has been raised, Islamic fiction is becoming more and more mainstream.  The quality of many self published books rival and exceed traditionally published options, that to be putting out content that contains grammar errors (missing words, punctuation, random line breaks), spelling errors, voice and point of view inconsistencies, illustration errors, and content mishaps in a 26 page picture book, is not acceptable.  I feel like you are hurting the goal of representation and reflection, more than boosting it, when it is not well done.  I know that is harsh, but sadly minorities always have to do things better, it isn’t right, but it is the way it is.  You can argue my opinion that the story is too wordy or text heavy, but the technical components and final package in a $12 book, really need to be resolved.  The overall concept of the story is lovely: the Islamic details, the reminders about the sunnahs of Jummah, the little girl being excited to wear her favorite scarf and see a friend at the masjid, it really had a lot of potential.

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Samira greets the reader with As Salaamu Alaikum, as the fourth wall is breached and introduces herself as being a Muslim.  She then explains what being a Muslim is and tells the reader it is Jummah.  She asks her Ummi why we go to the masjid on Friday, before chiming in with all the information she in fact does know about Jummah.

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The next page details wudu as she prepares to go to the Masjid.  She then explains hijab as she tries to find her favorite green khimar with polka dots.  The words hijab, scarf and khimar are used interchangeable, causing a bit of confusion,  She explains that hijab is required by Allah swt to guard your chastity and that He also requires us to wear a khimar to the masjid.  I wish it would have clarified that we have to be covered when we pray, not necessarily just going to the masjid as she is a child, and many masjids are more than just places to pray, often having community halls and gyms.

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As the story continues she cannot find her favorite khimar no matter where she looks.  Ummi tries to give her some places to check, but in typical mom fashion, Samira can’t find it anywhere, and mom can find it immediately.  Samira shares some information about wearing your best clothes and they are off to the masjid not wanting to be late and hoping to get to the masjid first as the angels keep a record.  She finds her friend, and settles in to listen to the khutbah (misspelled as “Iman’s lecture” in the book).

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The conclusion of the book says “that even though Samira couldn’t find her favorite khimar, she was happy to take a trip to the masjid…”.  But she did find her favorite khimar? And on the very last page she is wearing the same shirts as she was at the masjid, but the polka dots have vanished from her green scarf?

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I’m hoping the author, illustrator, and publisher will clean up the book and someday republish it, we need these voices and images.

Feb12

Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza

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Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza

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There is such a shortage of male Muslim protagonist middle grades books that I have been waiting quite impatiently to get my hands on this one, and alhumdulillah, it didn’t disappoint.  I’m not sure if it qualifies as OWN voice, being it has a female author, but the authenticity in the little religious and cultural details would suggest that it should.  The 320 page book is meant for ages 8-12, but the weight of Aziz’s father’s illness, the plot pivoting around three classic books (Holes, Bridge to Terabithia, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler), and the clever reflections of Ahmed along with his quick wit and thoughtful choices, might make the book’s sweet spot be 5th to 7th grade readers (as well as us moms who are suckers for elementary literary references, teachers who are heroes, and kids realizing their potential).  The book has a bully, but is clean and wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

SYNOPSIS:

Twelve-year-old Ahmed is leaving the only home he has known in Hawaii to move to Minnesota.  His dad has Cirrhosis, a result from a rare genotype of hepatitis C, and Minnesota is one of the top options for treatment.  The family is nervous to move in general, but more so to move to Minnesota.  It is where Ahmed’s dad Bilal grew up, and where his dad’s younger brother passed away at age 12. Ahmed’s younger sister, Sara, is perhaps the only one excited for the new adventure.

The family arrives and is greeted by Bilal’s old friends, and when school starts he realizes one of his dad’s best friends, is his English teacher, and somewhat of a legend at the school in getting kids to try and beat her at an end of the year quiz show like competition.  The school is also where Bilal and his brother Muhammed went to school and a picture of Muhammed hangs right above Ahmed’s locker.  The biggest stress at school is Jack. Jack who lives a few houses over, Jack who rides the same bus, Jack who is in Ahmed’s English group, and Jack who has a lot of followers at school.  Jack is a bully.  One who makes Ahmed’s life miserable at every turn, not just socially, but even the police.

Ahmed is a laid back kid that doesn’t like to read, but loves words, who wants to blend in yet is the only brown kid in a sea of white, who enjoys attending  Jummah salat, but ultimately hates going because of the shoe chaos afterwards.  Ahmed has no intention to read the books assigned in class, but some how the three classic books assigned do get read, and  Holes, Bridge to Terabithia, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tie together and weave in and out of Ahmed’s epic year.

I don’t want to spoil much, but Ahmed’s dad is in the hospital a lot, there is a lot of plotting to survive being bullied, as well as getting revenge on the bully in Ahmed’s own way without involving parents.  Ahmed slowly grows to love Minnesota, his small circle of friends, and his school while learning about his uncle and the kind of person he wants to be as he grows up.

WHY I LIKE IT:

Ahmed is Muslim and while his mom prays five times a day and his dad is an occasional prayer it doesn’t specify how often Ahmed prays or how he feels about religion, other than going for Jummah.  At first Ahmed thinks he is being bullied by Jack because he is brown, his mom is an immigrant from India, his father the son of immigrants from India, but learns that Jack picks on anyone new.  I like that for as much as Ahmed hates stereotypes and assumptions, he acknowledges that he makes them too.  I like that Ahmed doesn’t like to read, but is smart, and eventually comes around to reading.  He is tech smart and very mature in how he views the world and himself in it, cares for his sister and parents, handles things on his own, and builds others up.  Ahmed is a good kid, not in that he doesn’t make errors or is a teacher’s pet, but in that he has a really good heart and a good head, and I think would make anyone better for knowing him.  I love that the book is smart too.  If you have read the three books mentioned you will love the discussions and questions about the books, if you haven’t read them, you will be tempted to after you finish this book.  I wish there was a tad more religion, there is a sprinkling of culture, primarily the mom’s tragic cooking, but a bit more religion in a book that has illness and death would seem natural to me.  The storytelling is superb, I was so curious where the father’s parents were, but alas it did answer that, I would have liked it sooner, but I was glad it made it in none-the-less.  I would have liked a bit more from the parents about why they wanted Ahmed at his dad’s old school, or how they were comfortable constantly leaving the two kids home alone at night, but Ahmed like I said is pretty mature.  I particularly love the brother sister relationship.  Ahmed is a good older brother and it reminded me in some ways of my older brother, which made my heart warm, good siblings are a blessing.

There are multiple climaxes, but while I expected the dad’s health to be a big one and Jack getting what was due to be a close second along with the outcome of the literary contest, I was not prepared for the level of Jack’s torture to climb to, and was pleasantly surprised by the unresolved thread of Jack and Ahmed’s future relationship.  Things in life don’t magically resolve and I love when middle grade novels keep that in mind.

FLAGS:

None

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I would absolutely do this in a heartbeat for a middle school book club selection.  Even if the book is more middle grades, I think the students will enjoy it and be surprised by the emotional investment the dad character extracts.  I think they will also benefit from the literary references, relatable characters, and the overall great storytelling.

Feb5

Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan

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Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan

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I have to be honest that this book really held my attention and was hard to put down for about two-thirds of the 416 pages.  I was genuinely invested in the characters and wanted to see how it all resolved.  Sadly, by the end, I was disappointed with the conclusion, the predictability, the stereotypes, and the cliche’ of it all.  The author mentions in the forward that she is representing her story, not a representation of all Bangladeshi- Muslim American girls, but for an OWN voice book with such a clever premise, I really wanted to be shown more than I was told, I wanted to feel the protagonists strength, and cheer her on as she found her happiness on her terms.  But alas I felt that she let other’s fight her battles and she really only threw her religion and culture around as weighted plot oppressors, not as strands of her life that she had to decide to embrace or understand in the process of growing into herself.  There was a lot of potential to discuss mental health and family expectation, but the end unraveled all that the book could have been.  Undoubtedly the author is a good writer, and brown Muslims are not a monolith, but I feel like sometimes we need to square away who we are before we just clamor for what we want.  This book has relationships, it is a romance novel afterall, but whether the characters are straight or LGBTQ+, there isn’t more than kissing and hand holding and would probably be fine for 9th grade and up if you are ok with a Muslim lead lying to her parents and having a boyfriend.

SYNOPSIS:

Karina Ahmed is 16 and expected to be a doctor when she grows up.  Her conservative Muslim parents are immigrants from Bangladesh and very over protective of their oldest child.  Samir her younger brother, a freshman, is a robotics nerd and the pride of their family.  Karina loves English and wants nothing more to major in English in college, but her parents are insistent and despite her struggles with math and science she is determined she has no choice in the matter and must make them proud by being a doctor.  This inability to be what her parents want has caused tremendous anxiety within Karina and when her parents leave for a vacation to Bangladesh for a month, she is hoping to be able to relax and enjoy life for 28 days with her Dadu, paternal grandma, and her friends, Cora and Nandini.

The only extracurricular activities Karina is allowed are Pre-Med Society and tutoring, where she helps others with English.  Her teacher asks her to tutor a classmate one on one to prepare for the end of the year exams, and reluctantly she agrees.  Very reluctantly.  The classmate is brooding resident bad boy Ace Clyde, a beautiful slacker that seems to not care about much.  In Karina’s efforts to get Ace to study and taking advantage of limited parental supervision, Karina goes with Ace to a sweetshop and even ends up at his house where she meets his family.  Ace is not ready to admit to his incredibly wealthy family that he is seeking help from a tutor and instead introduces Karina as his girlfriend.  Ace’s older brother Xander, the Student Body Class President, isn’t buying it, so Ace announces it on social media and shows up the next day with coffee for Karina as he walks her to class determined to convince everyone that they are indeed a couple. Karina is not ok with this, but he does promise her a dozen books a week and he is aware that the “relationship” can only last 28 days, so she is in.   Karina’s friends predict that they will fall hopelessly in love and they are pretty correct.  Over the course of the next three and half weeks the two grow closer, he even comes over and spends time with Dadu and Samir.  She encourages him to fix his relationship with his family, and he encourages her to fix hers.  And somewhere in the midst of pretending they decide to make it real and then Karina’s parents return.  She at this point has been cheered on to stand her ground on confronting them about not wanting to be a doctor by Ace, Cora, Nandini, Dadu and Samir.  The conversation does not go well and Karina goes into a two week slump pushing everyone out before she *spoiler alert* resolves to date Ace in secret as long as he respects her lines, and Dadu stands up to her parents for her.  The story concludes with her going to Jr. Prom and her resolved to just stay strong for a little while longer until she is “free.”

WHY I LIKE IT:

I like that I really didn’t know if the book would turn cliche until it ultimately did.  I really liked the realness and rawness of Karina coping with her anxiety and her friends supporting her in Googling coping mechanisms and helping her test them out.  I feel like it was a missed opportunity for Karina’s parents to not reach out to her, or for Karina to even mention that they were missing it.  I think readers that see themselves in Karina would have hoped to see that story thread play out and give them hope of getting help and support or at least getting it out in the open to normalize it.  I love the growth of Samir once Karina make him aware of the double standard, but I feel like he doesn’t read with a consistent persona.  He has a job, he has friends, he likes a girl, but he reads like he is clueless and maybe 10 years old at best, not in high school.  A bit off for me.  And of course you have to love Dadu, a wise old woman who supports her grandchildren and sticks up for them.  I wish Karina would have taken her cues from her beloved grandmother and stood up to her parents with Dadu in the room rather than let Dadu fight the fight and just stand there.  I thought the big climax would be Karina standing up to her parents, so I felt let down when she let someone else fight her fight.  Yes Karina tried and failed, but I think her grandmother should have backed her up in round two, not taken over.

Karina throughout says she is Bangladeshi-Muslim and uses it as a reason to fear her parents and feel obligated to not date or study English.  She does say she isn’t against religion, and actually likes being a Muslim and praying and knows Allah loves her, but that it is the tradition that blindly is followed that gives her trouble.  Her maternal grandfather is an Imam and her mom is much stricter than her father, but he follows her lead in raising the kids.  My critique isn’t so much to argue with the author’s perspective about religious standards, but more a literary one, when the character says she is Muslim and uses that to reason why she has lines, but yet is never seen praying or wresting with what she wants and what she believes.  Never asking Allah for help with her anxiety or confronting her parents or anything for that matter.  As soon as her parents leave she is in a crop top, so where is the religious line and where is the cultural one?  Where is her understanding of her culture and where it fits in her life and where she wants it to fit in her future? Is she Muslim because her parents are or because she believes it? She won’t eat ham, and eats halal, but later eats meat at Ace’s house? Everyone, even fictional characters, get agency, but in a book where the premise is a fake relationship turned real turned rebellious because of religion and culture, a little introspection seems warranted.

The conclusion after hundreds of pages of being called lionhearted and brave and strong seemed diminished when going to prom and lying to parents and having grandma fight your battle is the happy ending.

FLAGS:

Relationships: The main couple hold hands and kiss. There is a supporting character that is bisexual as is a cousin, one is gay, they hold hands and kiss as well. Nothing more than that or detailed. There is lying and deception.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I don’t think I would do this as an Islamic School book club selection because it would imply agreement with lying and going behind your parents backs.  Granted her parents are difficult and her grandma is aware and ok with the situation, but I still think it would send the wrong message to endorse such behavior from a religious school perspective.

Feb2

Float Like A Butterfly by Ntozake Shange illustrated by Edel Rodriguez

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This 40 page biography beautifully presents major events of the famous boxer’s life without going in to much explanation. While it is an AR 4.7, it is still a picture book, and might work better for younger kids with some conversation and context, than for middle grade readers looking for anything in-depth about the beloved hero. While following his life, the reader sees him as a child growing up before he becomes famous, and sees that even after he retires, he is so much more than just a boxer, he is a compassionate leader, icon, and humanitarian.

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Born in Louisville, Kentucky in the Pre-Civil Rights South as Cassius Clay, he struggled to understand why there was only a white superman, and questioned if heaven was divided up by color and income like Smoketown.

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Cassius loved the power of words and would help his father make rhymes as a sign painter. When his bike gets stolen he is motivated to learn to fight so that nothing else is ever taken from him and his. He may not be the colored superman, but he is determined to be lightening fast and have fists that fly.

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In 1960 at age 18 he won Olympic Gold. In 1964 he converted/reverted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali days after becoming the Heavyweight Champion of the World. His titles were stripped from him, however, when he refused to fight in Vietnam.

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Years later in 1971, the Supreme Court reversed his convictions for not fighting and in 1974 he reclaimed his title by beating George Foreman in “The Rumble in the Jungle.” In 1981 after winning, keeping and losing the title, Muhammad Ali retired from boxing for good.

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Muhammad Ali suffered from Parkinson’s disease but still donated his time, his money and himself. He believed in perseverance, and equality, and fought for what he believed in. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 74.

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This is an updated edition from the 2002 originally published book, it now includes his death. I wish it was more than a fleshed out timeline and showed him as a person, or what it was like to lose everything when standing up for something you believe in, or explained what some of his catch phrases meant, or really just as a more high energy celebration of his life.

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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.  

Jan25

The Girl Who Slept Under the Moon by Shereen Malherbe illustrated by Sarah Nesti Willard

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The Girl Who Slept Under the Moon by Shereen Malherbe illustrated by Sarah Nesti Willard

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I was really surprised by the number of gaps in this 46 page story that is so adorably illustrated and seemingly planned out. I thought perhaps I was being overly critical, so as always I tested it on my kids, and they too were confused by the main character’s rational and choice of words, the holes in the narrative, and the inconsistency of the characters. The book is wordy, so conciseness cannot be the reason for the holes, and it is published by a publishing company, so I would assume it has been proofed. Really the point of stories connecting us and giving us comfort when we need it, is sadly lost. I had hoped to love this fictional story of a Palestinian girl using prayer to give her comfort in her new home, but alas it seemed to be trying to weave in too much, and as a result the story isn’t fabulous for me unfortunately.

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Noor is new at school and stands out. She finds comfort in remembering the things that are the same. 1-Allah could still see and hear her. 2- The Angels were still by her side, and 3-She still slept under the same moon. She also wears clothes that remind her of home and provide an unspoken clue as to where home is for her.

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At school Noor has a problem, she needs a place to pray, but at lunch time the kids are not allowed to go inside and the dinner lady guards the door. Noor needs a distraction to sneak in the building and it isn’t clear if she provides the distractions, or just benefits from a baby bird falling out of a nest, a snake being in the grass, and a classmate getting hurt. Either way, when the teacher is occupied, Noor enters the building and finds a closet to pray in.

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On one such visit to the closet she finds someone already in there, Hannah. Hannah is there because she doesn’t like being on the playground because she is different. Noor never asks why Hannah feels different, so the reader isn’t made aware either. Hannah asks her why she is there and Noor says she comes “to pray because it reminds me of where I’m from.”

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When Hannah asks where she is from, Noor doesn’t just simply answer, she tells her stories about her homeland, the mountains, olive trees, where the athan floats in the air and fisherman return to the shore with their catch. The next day Hannah is there again, and Noor tells her more stories and legends about her culture and lessons of the Prophets. Noor learns that through her stories she feels connected to her old home.

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Weeks pass, and one day when she sneaks in to the school, she finds the door locked. With no where to go she heads back to the playground and starts to cry that she won’t be able to pray. She then sees Hannah disappear and she follows her in to the drama studio. When she enters she sees sets built that look like the setting of her stories, of her home. Hannah knew she missed home and built her sets to look like Palestine.

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Other kids miraculously enter, and Noor begins telling them her stories, without praying first. The other kids seem to enjoy her stories and Noor learns that she can pray anywhere while holding on to her three reassuring thoughts.

The illustrations are engaging, although I’m not sure where the prayer rug seems to magically come from for Noor to pray on in the closet the first time. Had the book just been about prayer and finding a way to pray, or just about the stories connecting us to our past I think it would have been more powerful. I’m glad that Noor loves salat and that Hannah is a good friend, but I feel like by trying to do too much, the poignancy of the little things was lost.

And as for my questions: Can’t Noor ask for a place to pray? Can’t she pray outside? How is Hannah making the sets all by herself? Noor says she prays because it reminds her of home, she doesn’t pray for the sake of Allah or because it is required of her? Why did Hanna feel different, and why didn’t Noor bother to ask? It says that she needed to distract the dinner lady, isn’t that dishonest even for a good cause? Did she harm the baby bird so that it would need rescuing? Put the snake in the grass? Hurt the little girl so that she could get by the teacher? How was Hanna getting inside at lunch time? How is the school ok with a kid coming inside to build a whole set with school materials, but can’t let another child inside to pray for less than 5 minutes? And if Noor didn’t feel comfortable asking for a space to pray, clearly Hannah had connections to get permission to create a huge scene, couldn’t she have asked, or helped Noor ask?

Jan8

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

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Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

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Four hundred pages of painfully powerful verse that you will have to force yourself to slow down and not rush through.  Yes, you want to know what happens to the young, black, muslim teen writing his truth, but to read it too quickly will deprive you of feeling and contemplating and absorbing the message that if, you, like me are a white (ish) person of privilege, need to surround yourself regularly with to understand.  The OWN voice narrative is co-written by one of the Central Park Exonerated Five and should be required reading for everyone 14 and up.

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SYNOPSIS:

Amal Shahid is 16 years old, and maintains he is being wrongfully accused of a crime that has left a white boy unconscious.  He acknowledges he threw the first punch, but is adamant that he didn’t throw the last.   From his trial to his incarceration in a juvenile detention facility, the narrative pushes forward as he adapts to confinement with flash backs to pivotal moments in his life.  He is a gifted artist and writer and his creativity and ability to express himself is what will hopefully provide him a way to survive.

I know I’m leaving this vague, because truly I cannot do it justice.  I started taking pictures of powerful sections, and when I found myself taking pictures of nearly every page, I realized that the book is something to be experienced in its entirety and will include just a few internal pages to tempt you.

 

 

WHY I LIKE IT:

The book is impactful in that it claims only to share the protagonist’s truth, it doesn’t get off tangent from that, but allows for the reader to add to the narrative their own understanding to make it personal and resonate most profoundly.  His situation involves so many injustices plagued upon him only because of his skin color, and a system that is designed to keep racism alive and powerful.  He was at the wrong place at the wrong time perhaps, but while the book is heavy, hope is ever present.  I’d like to believe it is because of those that refuse to give up on Amal. I was swept away by the power of a mother’s love.  Truly, what strength for a young man in Amal’s situation to have the world betray him so often in his young life, to find unflinching love, support, belief, and determination in his mother.  

I love that his mother is a practicing Muslim, his grandmother attends church, and he loves them both and values their spirituality.  Allah, the Quran, and Islam are mentioned regularly.  It never is preachy, or gives much doctrine, but it is present, and is a tangible part of how Amal sees the world.

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FLAGS:

There is language and violence.  He has a crush on a girl and she writes him letters, nothing obscene.  There is racism, bullying, racial slurs.

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TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

There is so much to discuss in this book, and so many resources online.  I think the book might be too mature for my middle school book club, but I am suggesting it to the high school book club.  This book needs to be read, discussed, breathed in, and experienced.  Plus the author’s real life experiences should be incorporated into the discussion as well as the student’s understanding of how present racism is and how they can use their voices and influence to create real, lasting, change, inshaAllah.

Nov20

The Servant by Fatima Sharafeddine

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img_6859This 157 page young adult book is translated from Arabic and while at times the story seems intentionally choppy, at other times it seems that the translation is making it more jarring than it needs to be.  I found the book interesting and powerful, in much the way a short story can be, but the length was awkward, as it was too long for a short story, and not long enough to really read as a novel with detail and depth and connection.  I love the growth and retaking of control that the protagonist embodies and I absolutely love the ending being left intentionally unresolved.  There is no mention of religion in this story set in Lebanon, until nearly the end when it states that she is Muslim.  I wonder if the translation took out some of the ‘Salams’ and ‘inshaAllahs’ that would have clarified it a bit even if prayer, or the athan or any outward signs of being a Muslim are clearly absent.  The book is probably fine for ages 13 and up.

SYNOPSIS:

Faten is essentially sold in to servitude by her family.  Her family lives in a village outside Beirut and when money gets tight she is forced to go and work as a house keeper/maid for the Zein family.  Once a month Faten’s father comes and collects her salary showing little to know affection for the eldest of his children. The small Zein family has two daughters and lives in a flat.  While the girls are in school, Faten cooks and cleans and dreams of being a nurse.  The family is not particularly cruel to Faten, they often refer to her simply as ‘girl,’ but they are not particularly kind to her either.  The highlight of Faten’s day is watching a young man across the street that drives a dark blue car, come home, study, and play piano.  On occasion she catches his eye, so he knows she exists, but the two know nothing about one another.  On Faten’s 17th birthday she decides she is going to gift her self something, and writes a letter to the blond man across the street.  She has her only friend in Beirut, Rosalynn, a much older house servant in the apartment downstairs from Sierra Leon, deliver the letter which asks the boy to meet her so that she might seek his help in a very important manner.

When Faten and Marwan meet, Faten asks him to obtain information about how she might study nursing and change her future.  The two secretly meet with Rosalynn’s help on Sunday’s, Faten’s one day off.  Faten borrows May’s books to study as she learns what exams she must take to make her dream a reality.  Marwan helps her with questions she needs assistance with and Faten and Marwan become close friends, with both feeling some attraction for one another just beneath the surface.  One day however, they are discovered by a friend of Mrs. Zein at a beach side cafe, drinking coffee and Faten is forbidden from leaving the apartment as a result.  With the oldest girl, May, married now, and nothing to look forward to on her days off, Faten dives in to her studies and is more determined than ever to pass her exams.

To even take the multiple day exam requires a few lies, a few favors, and the willingness to take a huge risk.  When the Zein’s find out she is let go, and now must face her parents back in the village.  With the help of her childhood friend, Faten clings to hope, confidence in her ability, and determination to pave her own way on her own terms.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that while Faten is the victim of cruel parents, and an unfortunate circumstance, she rises up and fights for control.  I love that she has feelings for Marwan, but that they don’t overshadow her future goals, nor does she become overly dependent on him.  I really love her strength in handling the situation with him when it is good, when it is tested, and when she has to walk away.  There are elements of it being a love story, but that is just one thread of the book, her charting her own path is much more the central story line.  I wish her religion and his religion would have come to the surface more, and sooner.  Lebanon is a diverse place and just saying they were of two different faiths could have provided a lot of insight and fleshing out of the culture and the dynamics the two would have faced.  The classism is a bit obvious, but even when that is explored it provides a better understanding to the characters and to the arc they are moving on.  I like that her childhood friend and family are so loving and that her mom is not completely written off as a passive flat character.  Overall, I like the story and the book, set in the 80’s it really could have gone a lot of ways, but it held close to the theme and provided enough side details that it felt grounded, believable and ultimately was enjoyable to read.

FLAGS:

When May is entertaining suitors there is some ogling that young kids might question.  There is a lot of lying and deception and the possible romance between Faten and Marwan that in the text is pretty clean, but there is some hand holding if memory serves and implied desire for the friendship to be more.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

The book offers a lot in terms of classism and forced labor to be discussed and the cliffhanger ending between Marwan and Faten would allow the readers to decide if they could be together despite their different faiths, economic status and families, or not.  I probably wouldn’t do it as a book club, but if I were a high school teacher, I might offer some sort of extra credit assignment involving the book, as the ending really lends itself to the reader projecting the characters’ futures based on their own perspectives which would be fascinating to hear.