I think the illustrations in this 40 page picture song book are my favorite of the new 2021 books. They are adorable and expressive and a big part of the story that the text alludes to, but doesn’t detail. They also are a big part of the activities at the end of the book that encourage children to go back and find different Ramadan and Eid concepts to discuss and further understand. I absolutely love that there is a glossary and a reference page that details and attributes the hadith implied in the simple sing song-y words. The chorus is to the tune of jingle bells, and while I struggled to maintain the rhythm, the chorus reappears and if you are able to sing the book, your children will love it even more, haha, my voice and lack of rhythm forced me to read it, but either way it is absolutely delightful and informative for toddlers and up.
It starts out with the refrain that Ramadan is here and we will fast and pray and that Allah (swt) will give us more rewards and we will do more good deeds, than on normal days. It then shares that Ramadan is the month after Shaban when the Qur’an first came down and that we look for the crescent moon to know when Ramadan is here. It is important to note that the words flow and are so concise you don’t even realize that much information has been conveyed.
The chorus repeats and shows a family praying, kids helping vacuum, and giving socks to homeless. The family then wakes up early for a healthy suhoor, no food or drink, thinking about how the poor must feel and then having iftar with a sticky sweet date and water. Sometimes you eat so much your belly protrudes (a great vocabulary word for little ones). The next page has salat starting and those that ate too much wishing they would have left space for air and water.
The chorus repeats again showing zakat being given, iftars being eaten in segregated large groups, before looking for Laylat ul Qadr takes place and some children read Qur’an in an itikaf tent. Then it is time for Eid hugs, salams, prayer, food and fun.
On one page, the grammar of one line seems off, perhaps an extra word was added. I contacted the author to see if it is an error as it is part of the chorus, but only appears wrong in one place and one time. Even with the error, I would happily encourage this book for families with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners. It will be read multiple times, and the pictures will hopefully offer something new with each reading as understanding increases.
The copy I purchased from Amazon is 8.5 by 8.5 paperback, I’m not sure if they will be available from the publisher as a board book or without faces like so many of their books are.
There is a lot of good information and relatable lessons in this 45 page didactic book encouraging children to get to know the Quran, and to not just recite and memorize it, but the presentation just doesn’t do it any favors. I can’t imagine that seven and eight year olds are going to identify with the five year old protagonist learning how to add and getting in fights over crayons at school, nor that five year olds are going to have the patience for the explanations and understand the story. The word story in and of itself is a stretch, it is a bunch of ayats from the Quran that are explained to teach young Zayan lessons that reflect his daily life and how he can succeed and inshaAllah earn jannah in the akhira. The intention is really good, I just wish there was a bit more plot and that the book’s appearance made more sense. Having the book look and feel like a leveled reader on the outside, but be completely tiny text filled, save a few entire page generic full-color pictures and green bannered meaning of the Quran’s translation, the book and its seven chapters are intimidating. Space it out, make it an early chapter book in look and feel, revise the premise that a child has no idea what the Quran is, and is completely shook by learning from the kind and patient Qari Sahib that the Quran has lessons and rules to make us better. It is a stretch to get the book going, it has some wonderful points along the way, and leaves a warm feeling when completed, but I can’t figure out the intended readers age, nor can I imagine many kids will willingly picking it up. Like the character in the book dreading Quran class, I’m afraid getting kids to read this would similarly be met with dread, which is a shame, because the lessons are strong, the story and presentation just need a bit of polishing.
SYNOPSIS:
Zayan does not want to leave his toys for Quran class which he attends one-on-one on the computer with his teacher, Qari Sahib. Reading the Arabic is hard and confusing, he doesn’t understand what he is reading and he would rather be playing. He has just built a fort and is afraid if he leaves it for class, his sister will destroy it, (over the first few pages I was convinced his sister was younger than him, and a little confused to learn that both are older). When he begrudgingly logs on, Qari Sahib can tell he is upset and tells him that being kind to his siblings is a good deed and that many good deeds are in the Quran. Zayan is shocked. Qari Sahib offers to read some ayats to him and he can just listen before they resume reading Surah Fatiha. Zayan is blown away at how pretty the Quran sounds when recited and his eyes sparkle when he learns that the Quran contains directions to get to jannah.
Chapter two explores how the ayats in the Quran about kindness can relate to Zayan’s life. Being kind to your parents, speaking in a low voice, and not making fun of each other. Ayats are pulled and connections made so that Zayan can inshaAllah implement his new knowledge in his life. Zayan returns to playing after class and tests out what he has learned.
This pattern continues with chapter three discussing respect, then anger and forgiveness, cleanliness, and honesty. The parables come when he doesn’t listen to his mother about finishing his grapes, a fight at school involving crayons, playing in the mud and lying about feeding his pet cat. At one point he remarks that much of what his teacher explains to him from the Quran are things that his mother also tells him, almost like she has read the Quran.
WHY I LIKE IT:
The first few lines are so relatable. The dread of the child putting the entire family on edge, it is real. I love that Qari Sahib is kind and gentle and patient. When the mom mentions things to him about Zayan he finds ways to talk to him about it, without lecturing or reprimanding. I think the Qari Sahim is the real hero in the book. I particularly like when he went in to detail about our responsibility to care for animals. I’m glad Zayan has him to guide him because clearly his parents have failed. Yes, I’m being judgey. The kid doesn’t know what the Quran sounds like, doesn’t know why he is being forced to read it in Arabic, doesn’t know what it even is about? I’m not so much judging the fictitious parents, more the inconsistent writing. If Zayan doesn’t know that his mom has read the Quran how does he know what jannah is and who shaytaan is?
FLAGS:
none
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
Obviously not for a book club selection, but I’ve been trying to figure out if maybe my five year old and I could discuss some of the chapters together. I wouldn’t want to read the whole book because my child loves the Quran and doesn’t dread reciting, I have five children, I know tomorrow it can change, I’m not naive, I’m just saying for him particularly right now, it isn’t a chore and I think if I presented it as a boring thing, he will start to mimic that frame of mind (my older kids know not to ever bash certain teachers, concepts, spiciness of food etc. in front of their younger siblings for this very reason). But, while some of the lessons are really well thought out, they are just too much for a five year old. The pictures don’t engage and the text overbearing. I asked my 10 year old to read it and he found it really childish and didn’t finish. If the book works for you, alhumudillah, I’m glad, it is a benefit, I wish it worked for me too.
This book is the mirror so many kids are desperate to find in literature. A young Muslim girl is excited to celebrate Eid, while at the same time is sad knowing she is missing school picture day with her class. Not knowing what day Eid will be, not having it a scheduled day off in most school districts, and always feeling like you have your foot in two different doors starts early for children in non Muslim majority countries. This early picture book touches on those emotions, and even if you can’t always get a test rescheduled or a project due date moved, at least readers that face these dilemmas at any age and stage in life, will feel seen in this 32 page book perfect for ages 5 and up.
Amira and her brother Ziyad start the book looking out the window for the moon. They see it, which means Eid is tomorrow and Amira is going to have her mom put decorative Mehndi on her hands. She has her mom include a dolphin in the green swirls and hopes that by morning the color will be dark and beautiful. Ziyad is excited that they get to skip school.
Mom recruits the two kids to make goody bags and count out lollipops for the kids at the masjid, when the flyer for picture day catches Amira’s attention. Devastated that she will miss the class picture having already picked out a pink-striped dress for the occasion, mom reassures her that she will get to wear her new shalwar kameez, and they will take lots of pictures at the masjid.
Amira loves going for prayers and the party after, but she is kept awake at night worrying how her classmates will remember her if she isn’t in the picture. The next morning she is excited, it is Eid, but seeing her pink dress hanging next to her blue Eid outfit makes getting dressed a heavy process.
When they get to the masjid, Amira hardly recognizes it, it is all decorated and everyone looks beautiful. The smell of baked goods makes focusing on her prayers difficult, and after when everyone is taking pictures she remembers what she is missing and feels deflated.
On the way home Amira works to hold back the tears, when she suddenly has an idea to take the remaining goody bags to her classmates, and maybe catch her class pictures. Her parents agree and they stop at the school.
I won’t spoil if she made it in time, but the kids in her class love her clothes, and her mehndi designs. The book concludes with an Author’s Note, More about Eid and a Glossary.
I absolutely love the illustrations, little Amira is infectious and endearing. I wish the mom would have been a little more in tune with Amira’s feelings though, she definitely is upset and while I’m glad the family stopped after the Eid party, I feel like more could have been done beforehand to acknowledge Amira’s feelings, and see what could be done to accommodate both activities.
I love the diversity and brightness of the book to convey the absolute joy and happiness of Eid outside of presents. I think the book works for all children of all backgrounds and is a much needed addition to the repetitive Eid books available.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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?
I’m hoping the author, illustrator, and publisher will clean up the book and someday republish it, we need these voices and images.
My tween boys read the first two books in the Streetball Crew Series and recommended I read book one because there is a Muslim character and I’m a fan of the basketball all-star author who draws on his own life and experiences growing up in the story. It is 265 pages, an AR 4.5, and while the story is decent, and I enjoyed the majority of it, I didn’t love it. I was not thrilled at the choppiness of the story telling and ultimately the way Islam was presented. Obviously there are plenty of Muslims that will occasionally eat pork and who get violent as they get more religious, but I don’t think it is the norm and definitely isn’t a message most middle grade Muslim readers would identify with, nor want non Muslims assuming about Muslims as a whole. The book randomly has a sudden Muslim chapter toward the end and attributes some threats on the main character as being from Muslims becoming more devout. The main character is not Muslim, this is a side character and her family, and you don’t find out til the book is nearly over that she is Muslim. I worry how younger readers will be affected by the negativity toward Islam, as it really isn’t explored or even part of the story. There is enough going on in 8th grade Theo’s life with out the insertion of religion. I was glad I read it so that I could discuss it with my boys, but I would encourage the book for more middle school aged kids, if at all. The book involves basketball as a subplot, but has larger life lessons and developments away from the game. Do be aware one of the young characters smokes cigarettes, there is female objectification talk among the male characters, racism is discussed, there is some physical assault, and beer, R-rated movies, tattoos, branding, and dating are mentioned in this coming of age book.
SYNOPSIS:
Theo is 13, in 8th grade, and over the summer has grown six inches. He identifies as a science nerd and a geek and is on the Academic Olympic team at his school. He now, however, finds himself on the school basketball team, and has no idea what he is doing. Towering over everyone, he is assumed to be good, but his lanky body and new found size brings him ridicule and teasing. His life long best friend, a fellow geek, can’t figure out why he won’t just quit the basketball team, but Theo is oddly enough, enjoying the concept of team, and suddenly being recognized in the halls. When he joins a pickup game to improve his skills however, he gets in a fight with another kid, get’s threatened by some guys on motorcycles, and teased by a weird girl named Rain.
Outside of school it is just Theo and his police officer dad. Theo’s mom has recently passed away and the two are creating a new normal, that is until Theo finds out his father is giving online dating a try. After the first abysmal basketball game, Theo is forced to go visit his cousin in LA who is a tiny bit older than him, but much rougher. He constantly teases Theo and puts him down. He claims to be a great musician, but no one has ever heard his music, and suddenly on this visit, he seems a bit more insightful, which has Theo confused.
With Theo being pulled in multiple directions, he risks being kicked off the basketball team, moved down to alternate on the Brain Game Team, killed on Friday by the motorcycle gang and to top it all off, a CD of his cousins music has been stolen from Theo’s backpack and band has gone viral with one of the songs.
WHY I LIKE IT:
I like that it is a coming of age book for boys. I feel like there are a lot of girl books out there, but this one really does get into a young males head. It isn’t always pretty, and while women/girls are at times objectified in his thoughts and while chatting with his friends, I think he realizes it and doesn’t treat or talk to women in a negative way. I like that race is discussed as he is one of 14 black kids in his school of 600. There are times when he or his family are treated different for their skin color, but his mom never allowed him to accept it to be a reason for not being the best ‘you’ and she would make them put money in a jar any time they blamed race for something bad happening, a tradition they continue even though she has passed. I like the pop cultural references, a lot of books overdo it, this book makes it pretty smooth and relatable.
*Spoiler Warning* So Rain, turns out to be Matar, Arabic for Rain, she has convinced her aunt and uncle to let her change schools while her parents are in Iraq (her mom is Iraqi, her father a Quaker from Pennsylvania) and call her by her American name and let her wear American clothes (no hijab). The motorcycle villains, are her cousins, who were trying to find her and were threatening Theo to try and find out where she was. Their frustration with her behavior and dress is what prompted them to hit Rain which made her run. Rain and Theo discuss why after September 11, she was tired of being accused of being a terrorist and so she wanted a fresh start. Her uncle and aunt are noted as being nice, but clearly the devout Muslim cousins are what will be remembered. She also discusses sometimes eating pork, that hijab is modesty in the Quran, not a requirement to cover your hair, and that she is Muslim, but doesn’t know if she will be when she is older.
The book didn’t find its flow for me until nearly half way through, maybe about page 100 or so. It seemed to struggle to get all the characters introduced, flesh them out, and then decide what the book should be about. Once it got through all that it flowed better, but still left me confused as to why there was a spontaneous breakfast party, why a lawyer would so quickly get involved in the music case, why Theo was withdrawing from his friends, why Rain wouldn’t just talk to Theo, how Rain had friends she could stay with after just starting at the school, how Rain could switch schools without her parents there. Really the Rain character in general seemed really forced.
FLAGS:
I listed most of the potential concerns in the opening paragraph so that anyone, like me that would think, ‘oh fabulous a middle grade sports book by a Muslim author’ would be aware that there are a few potentially concerning elements.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I wouldn’t do this as a book club selection, it is a little all over the place, my 11 year old disagrees and thinks it would be a great book club read, so I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Video interviews with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the book:
I don’t know if twins plot and plan to trick people, but I think those of us that are not twins, and don’t have any in our immediate family, all assume that switching places with someone who looks exactly like us, would be a regular prank with hilarious outcomes and convenient benefits. Two twin Muslim girls with different hair and vastly different personalities learn to love themselves, appreciate how God made them, and get reminded that sneaking has consequences, all while evoking giggles from the reader throughout their adventurous day in each other’s shoes (hair?). This 32 page full-color, high-gloss, fantastically illustrated book is filled with silliness and lessons that will appeal to children five and up.
Bushra and Roda, are nearly identical, except Roda has curly hair, and Bushra’s is straight. They often want to try different hairstyles, but their parents tell them they should appreciate how God made them and they can experiment when they are older. The girls decide that their parents, with their perfectly wavy hair, just don’t understand and sneak in to their parents’ bathroom before school to straighten and curl their hair accordingly.
Surprised at the final results, “You look like me!”The girls realize they are going to get in trouble and decide to switch clothes and backpacks and head off to school. At school the girls are ushered in to each other’s classes by their teachers despite their protests that they aren’t who they look like.
The girls carry on as each other struggling in classes they normally excel in, get annoyed by their hair, and suffer through lunches that they don’t like. Roda even fools herself as she bumps into a mirror thinking she is going in to hug her sister, and Bushra is startled by a spider that Roda loves.
After school their dad drops them off at their after school activities and still doesn’t suspect a thing. Roda goes to Bushra’s soccer game and Bushra to Roda’s girl scout hike. When it starts to rain, the girls’ hair returns to its natural state and when they get picked up, they have a lot of explaining to do.
The girls are reminded that hair gadgets require supervision, that God made us all unique and being dishonest is not ok. From here on out the girls still prank their friends and teachers, but do so with their parent’s knowledge.
The book is fun and silly and for both Muslim and non Muslim’s alike. It uses the word God, not Allah, and while the mom wears hijab, and the girls do on the last page, there is nothing Islamic or even Islamic specific in the book. I feel like the grammar on the last page is off, but nothing too major. The book ends with five discussion questions.
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.
This book is a great OWN voice, middle grade coming of age book that rings with truth and hope in its poetic lines that sweep you up and keep you cheering. Over 352 pages the author’s semi-autobiographic story of coming to Peachtree City, Georgia from Karachi, Pakistan beautifully unfolds. I absolutely loved this book and the way it is told, in verse. The details, often small, ring with such sincerity that even those that have never moved to a new country, or been to a new school will feel for young Nurah Haqq and be inspired by her success, touched by her hardships, and disappointed in her mistakes.
SYNOPSIS:
Nurah’s best day is spent on the beach with her best friend Asna, playing in the warm waves and riding camels. However it ends up also being her worst day, when she returns home to her father’s news that they are moving to America. Strong, confident Nurah who spends time with her grandparents, swimming with her older brother Owais, and excelling at math in school is reluctantly leaving it all behind to start anew.
When they arrive in Georgia the family of four settles in a hotel until they find a house. Everything is different and new, and the transition with no friends and family difficult for the entire family. The way words are pronounced, the way the air feels and the birds chirp all make Nurah long for home. When they find a swimming pool at the rec center, things start to slowly change. Owais was a medal winner in Karachi, and will be one here too, people start admiring him, and Nurah tries to bask in his light.
School starts and math is a relief, but people are white, so white, and a boy reaches out to shake her hand. She feels betrayed that she has been told the schools in America are better, and lunchtime, with no one to sit by is a huge stress. She questions her clothing, her appearance, and the weather.
Her and Owais try out for the swim team and make it, and Nurah makes her first friend, Stahr. Stahr lives a few houses down from their new house and when Nurah’s mom has a miscarriage, it is Stahr’s mom who comes to show support and give comfort. The support is reciprocated when Stahr and her mom need help escaping from her abusive father.
As Nurah works to win swimming races and be more like her brother, she works to find her voice and use it to defend others and herself. A terrorist attack committed by someone claiming to be Muslim sets the family up to be targets. In a moment of jealousy, Nurah doesn’t intervene to help her brother and the consequences are huge.
WHY I LIKE IT:
I love the details and how they are articulated. I related to so much of Nurah’s feeling and impressions, that I reached out to the author and found her to be just as endearing as her character. The feeling of being different when swimming because of your decision to be modest, the role of food to comfort you and make you feel at home, the older brother that you so desperately want to resemble and be like: All of it hit close to home for me. I love how religion and culture are so much a part of the story and about the character’s identity, not to be made preachy, just to understand her and her experiences. She goes to the masjid, she prays, she starts to wear hijab. I love how she finds her voice and defends those that can’t, but that her path is not easy. She makes mistakes and she has to challenge herself to do what is right. The backdrop is always trying to “settle” in a new place, but the story has it’s own plot points that are interesting and simply made more impactful by Nurah’s unique perspective.
There are lots of little climaxes and victories for Nurah that show her to be well-rounded and relatable. You cheer for her early on and enjoy the journey. The only slight hiccup I felt was the name confusion of her Nana and Nani (Nana), it is explained, but it was a little rocky for me, it might be based on a real thing in her family, but once that is resolved, the book flows beautifully and smoothly.
FLAGS:
Nothing a 3rd/4th grader would find alarming, but none-the-less:
Crushes: Nurah has a crush on a boy at school when he shakes her hand and picks her for a lab partner, but she moves on from him while still maintaining a crush on her brother’s friend Junaid. Nothing happens, she just thinks they are cute.
Miscarriage: Her mother has a miscarriage and it details a blighted ovum and the mental strain on the mom and family in the aftermath.
Abuse: Stahr’s father is abusive
Hate: There are bullies, discrimination, physical violence.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
The book is a little below level for my middle school book club, but I think it it was on a bookshelf and a middle schooler picked it up, they wouldn’t set it down until they were done reading it.
This is one of those books that it is hard to know who the target audience is and who would most enjoy the text heavy 40 pages about a boy coming of age in Malaysia by harvesting honey in a traditional manner. The two page spread illustrations are rich and inviting, and with an AR 5.7 level, the book would work well for children that enjoy other cultures, honey, insects, or children that you hope will be inspired to start seeing the world a little differently than they are used to doing.
The story starts with a boy talking about his grandfather and how every year he goes to collect the honey from the tualang trees. The bees travel hundreds of miles and arrive just as the rainforest starts to bloom. The trees that they build their nests in are higher than the eye can see and grandfather, known as Pak Teh, is the leader of the honey hunting clan.
He tells everyone what their jobs will be: some will carry ropes, others pails, others torches. One day, he tells them, someone will have to take his place as the one who climbs all the way up to the top to gather the honey. He believes Nizam, the narrator, is the one.
To prove himself, Nizam has to practice climbing 120 feet into the sky. Nizam and grandfather spend a lot of time together praying five times a day and walking through the dense rain forest. He reminds Nizam that the forest doesn’t belong to them, but to the unseen protector. They enter the forest as if they are visiting a neighbors home.
At night all the hunters sit together and Grandfather tells the traditional story of the bees. A story that involves a beautiful servant girl named Hitam Manis who worked in the Sultan’s palace and how the Sultan’s son and her were in love. When the Sultan found out he ordered the girl run out from the kingdom. As she and her loyal friends fled she was hit by a metal spear. She did not die, but her and her friends were magically transformed into a swarm of bees. Because it was metal that harmed her, she ruled that metal was never allowed to touch the honey. Hence, when the bee hunters harvest they use a bone knife, leather pouches, and a wooden ladder.
When it is time to enter the forest, it is pitch dark with no moonlight. The hunters tap their glowing torches against the trees sending light sparks to the ground to tempt the bees and leaving their nests free for Nizam to collect the honey from. For seven nights they climb the trees, and then they return home. With greetings of salam, peace be upon you, Grandfather informs the family that when he can no longer climb the tree, Nizam will carry on the tradition.
The book ends with factual information about Malaysia, the rainforest, giant honey bees, honey hunters, and the future.
A very relatable 31 page early elementary chapter book about not only establishing salat, but doing it for the right reasons. The book is not preachy or reprimanding, and even with a moral purpose, Zain manages to connect with readers and be funny and likable along the way. Told from the view of the young narrator, realization is achieved, confessions made, understanding gained, and inshaAllah regular prayer established. A great book to share with your own children when salat integrity is in question, and a great reminder of the power of salat that kids will enjoy reading even when it is not, alhumdulillah.
SYNOPSIS:
Zain starts off by introducing himself as a kid who lives with his parents and is having an awful week. He rewinds and begins with recapping Monday. Right away he acknowledges that Monday actually started out ok as he was having an awesome dream, but that sometimes when he is mad he only sees and remembers the bad things. Because of his awesome dream he didn’t want wake up and pray Fajr, but his parents reminded him that when you pray you can ask anything you want from God and that praying protects us from bad decisions. He drags himself up to pray and asks God to help him on his spelling test. Later that day he took his test, said Bismillah, and aced it. So he concludes that maybe Monday wasn’t so bad, and Tuesday wasn’t either.
On Tuesday, Zain sticks up for his neighbor Joey who is being picked on by some older bullies. Later that night Joey’s parents come over to thank him and take him out for ice cream in appreciation. Wednesday, starts out great at school, and after school he gets to bake blueberry muffins with his mom. When the muffins are done he was suppose to pray Asr and then take the muffins to his friend Ali’s house. His mom reminds him to take the safe way and not cross the busy street. But, Zain forgot to pray Asr and sees no cars coming and chooses to take the short cut across the road. When he gets to Ali’s house his backpack is open and the muffins are missing.
The rest of the week continues with highs and lows. Many of the lows coming when he doesn’t pray. At one point a friend comes to tell him to come to the park to play soccer, and he knows his mom is going to ask him to wait a so they can pray together, so he pretends not to hear and rushes out the door. Another day he chooses to not miss the end of a show he is watching to pray and heads off to tutoring without praying at all.
When the book rejoins Zain in the present he is feeling bad about kicking a friend playing soccer, cheating on a math test, and not getting to taste his muffins. He unloads everything that has happened over the week, and his parents calmly and patiently ask him if he has been praying. When Zain realizes he has been neglectful his mom likens prayer to bricks in a wall that help keep bad things out. His parents tell him that when we miss our prayers, we end up with holes in our wall and bad ideas can sneak in. Resolved to stay strong, Zain wakes up the next morning to pray Fajr and have a good day, inshaAllah.
WHY I LIKE IT:
I love that it stays with a young kids perspective and doesn’t get weighed down with hadith and ayats and lectures. The parents let him learn from his mistakes and he comes to his own realization, not through their reprimanding or catching him in his deceitfulness. The book is a great way to remind kids that it is their responsibility to pray and that Allah swt knows everything, so that connection has to be made between the person and their creator, it isn’t something you do only when someone is watching or telling you to do it. I do wish that when he did resolve to pray that there would have been a bit of an outpouring to Allah. I love that he had tears in his eyes when he told his parents everything, but I think it would have been really powerful to see Zain ask Allah to forgive him and to help him keep his wall strong.
The book reads smoothly, and the illustrations are well done and inviting. Early chapter book readers will enjoy the font and format and knowing where the story is going with the days of the week chapters. On one occasion I wish the word “wudu” would have been used instead of ablution, and I’m not sure what Zain has against carrots, but nothing too major will keep kids from enjoying the story and understanding it.
FLAGS:
none.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
This book is for children learning to pray and realizing how important salat is. So while it won’t work for a book club, I really hope teachers in Islamic Schools and Sunday Schools will read the book aloud or assign it to their students. It is a great teaching tool, a great reminder, and a fun story too.
I think the illustrations in this 40 page picture song book are my favorite of the new 2021 books. They are adorable and expressive and a big part of the story that the text alludes to, but doesn’t detail. They also are a big part of the activities at the end of the book that encourage children to go back and find different Ramadan and Eid concepts to discuss and further understand. I absolutely love that there is a glossary and a reference page that details and attributes the hadith implied in the simple sing song-y words. The chorus is to the tune of jingle bells, and while I struggled to maintain the rhythm, the chorus reappears and if you are able to sing the book, your children will love it even more, haha, my voice and lack of rhythm forced me to read it, but either way it is absolutely delightful and informative for toddlers and up.
This is one of those books that it is hard to know who the target audience is and who would most enjoy the text heavy 40 pages about a boy coming of age in Malaysia by harvesting honey in a traditional manner. The two page spread illustrations are rich and inviting, and with an AR 5.7 level, the book would work well for children that enjoy other cultures, honey, insects, or children that you hope will be inspired to start seeing the world a little differently than they are used to doing.
Islamic School Librarian 