Tag Archives: romance

Aug31

She Wore Red Trainers by Nai’ma B. Robert

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She Wore Red Trainers by Nai’ma B. Robert

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After having fairly good luck with the Muslim YA Romance Novel Genre in An Acquaintance and Saints and Misfits, I was willing to give She Wore Red Trainers a try.  Na’ima B. Robert has written a lot of books and this 261 page book was an easy and entertaining read.  There are no plot twists, deep thoughts, or intense drama, its a light read that infuses religion and environment into a story that will be great for 14-16 year olds that have slim pickings of relevant, Islamic, “halal” fiction options.

SYNOPSIS:

The story is told from two 18-year-olds’ perspectives, Ali and Amirah. It goes back and forth and while the perspective is obvious, the bottom of the page identifies the character so there is no chance for confusion.

Ali has begrudgingly moved to London with his brothers and father.  Not very religious before his mother’s death, he and his father and younger brother have made a new start and commitment to Islam since losing her to cancer.  The middle brother, resists this, but isn’t too critical in the story, other than to add a voice to the concept that people have to come to Islam on their own, that the relationship between a person and Allah is not cookie cutter or often simple. 

Amira too has a past and a lot on her plate as she strives to balance her chaotic family life and moving past decisions of her rebellious self.  The two meet and in the brief second before gazes are lowered, they fall in love.  Ok, so it isn’t that cliche’ but it is close.

The two, as the dedication of the book states, “are striving to keep it halal.”  They have a few encounters and the sparks are there, but they both have their own stories and supporting cast of friends as well. It isn’t until the very end, SPOILER, they get married.

Yup. impromptu wedding of 18 year olds.  It isn’t out of left field though, there are passages that contemplate the Islamic merits of a young marriage, and perhaps that is the depth of the book, as far as giving the reader something to think about. That and choosing Islam and actively living it.

WHY I LIKE IT:

The stuff that makes the book interesting, isn’t really even the two love birds, it is the context.  The struggle of Amirah’s complex family situation with a mom that has had multiple husbands, and is suffering from depression.  Amirah also has a creepy stepdad (makes her uncomfortable and seems to make sexual advances toward her) and a sketchy past that isn’t really articulated but is hinted at enough to know that she did rebel briefly by running away and experimented with drugs and alcohol before realizing it wasn’t the life she wanted.  She takes tremendous care of her younger siblings, one who is deaf, and respects her older brother tremendously.  Her friends are not overly developed but provide enough diversity that the reader will see themselves in someone even if just fleetingly.

Similarly Ali is fleshed out by the company he keeps.  He has very religiously devout friends, a few rebellious ones and countless opportunities to define who he is.  His home life is a little chaotic, but they’ve gone through the destruction and are in the rebuilding phase. 

I like that the characters are fallible and represent a wide spectrum of religiosity.  The book isn’t political, nor does it discuss culture really, but it is meant for Muslim readers.  The characters throw in Arabic terms and while there is a glossary at the back, the religious rules, the contemplation of hadith and ayats, understanding Islamic divorce and the stress to be well established before marriage make it a book for those that can relate.  I love that part of keeping it halal is that they don’t talk and text.  I know that makes it a bit unbelievable, but I like that the line is drawn and established.

I wish that the past of many of the characters was clearer.  Not overly sensationalized, but a tiny bit more.  I wanted more information on what Ali’s dad’s new job was, and how far away they would be moving.  I wanted to know how Amira’s family would manage without her and the creepy stepdad, would the mom be able to step up and care for her kids.  I wanted more details about Amira’s family in general and why her older brother had to leave his studies permanently in Saudi Arabia, and wasn’t able to just delay graduation.  

I can’t criticize the writing too much because I did read the book in one sitting and it kept my interest.  I didn’t expect it to be deep or thought provoking, so for a light summer read, it was good enough.  I felt like the ending was a bit rushed, and yes there are some far fetched ideas, but I think it’s a romance novel, halal or not, so yeah, there are going to be some places that forgiveness is needed.

FLAGS:

There is mention of hooking up, drug and alcohol use, virginity, and a creepy sexual predator in the stepdad. It isn’t appropriate for middle school, but not so vulgar that one would need to be 18 to read.  I think high schoolers won’t find it too cheesy, and not be shocked by the content either.  Granted it depends on the reader. but I think it is better to be safe than sorry.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I would consider the book for a high school book club. Might have to get parental permission, but I think it works well to consider how to have it all so to speak.  How to live within Islam and be smart about your choices.  The book doesn’t offer a lot to think about and mull over, but if you were a teenager, I would imagine that the book presents a lot of what you are feeling.  There is a lot to relate to in the friends, the deen, the emotions, and the temptations.  It also shows that just because families are Muslim, doesn’t mean that they are not complicated and troubled, a scenario that many would find reassuring at least superficially in the book.

Interview with the Author: http://www.kubepublishing.com/an-interview-with-naima-b-robert-about-her-forthcoming-book-she-wore-red-trainers/

Aug3

Skunk Girl by Sheba Karim

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Having been pleasantly surprised with a few recent reads in the romance/islamic fiction genre I thought to give this slightly more cultural take a try.  Unfortunately, this book didn’t surprise me pleasantly, but rather left me disappointed and slightly annoyed.  At 231 pages and an AR 5.2, the book would have worked much better framed as a memoir or semi autobiographical dairy, as it stands as a novel there is no point to the story, no real character connection, no real lasting impression.  There are a few comical concepts, but only because I am Pakistani-Muslim and female did I get them, and sadly those few instances, aren’t enough to carry the book and make it worth recommending.

SYNOPSIS:

Nina Khan is in high school in a small New York town and her strict parents don’t let her do the typical high school stuff like date or talk to boys.  Her parents are not religious, unless her mom’s family is visiting and they put on an act.  Her parents aren’t awful, however, they are educated, kind, and quirky, but culturally strict none-the-less.  Nina has two amazing school friends, that she has grown up with that accept her and her social limitations for the most part.  When Nina falls for the new boy in school, Asher, though, they work overtime to figure out how to get them together.  In addition to the boy dilemma the other stress is Nina feeling like she is in her older sister’s shadow.  An older sister who is a genius and is away at Harvard. There’s a girl at school that annoys Nina, but really their interactions are petty and annoy the reader more than anyone else.

As Nina’s friends hook up with boys and Nina has various interactions with Asher, one involving him seeing down the back of her sweater and thus her stripe of back hair, we are also introduced to some of her Desi friends.  In my opinion the passages about her conversations with the ethnic kids trying to find their way in life and in love and still maintain their culture and religious values, is way more entertaining than the bantering back and forth with Helena and Bridget.  If the author were to rewrite the book as a diary or biography, and focus more on the Desi friends, the book would probably be more interesting, compelling, and relevant.

The climax, if there is one, is when Nina’s parents go out of town and she is able to sneak off to a party and try alcohol, getting blackout drunk, and then going on a ski weekend with Asher, making-out with him and then deciding that that’s not for her.  At least I think that is what she decided.  She decided she can’t be with him, and she heads off to Pakistan with her sister to meet her parents, but thats it.  There isn’t really a climax, there isn’t an ending. Literary structure might allow you to do one, but not having either a point or a conclusion, makes the book fall flat.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I read the whole book, so it wasn’t so atrocious that I couldn’t get through it, it just seemed to focus on the wrong things in the narrative and not make the main character relatable.  I wanted to grow with her, but her reflection at the end didn’t really make a strong point for her, so it didn’t make one for the reader either.  I think part of this is that the author, frustratingly to me, interchanges religion and culture a lot.  And while she might get them kind of right, I think non Muslims and non Pakistanis might find the two muddled.  She asks Allah to help her make a good impression with and Asher, yet constantly uses the Pakistani culture as the reason why she can’t date and drink in the first place.  My thinking is that the religion should trump the culture, but because being brown and Paki and Muslim are all viewed as being the same, the logic is kind of lost.  And granted in some households it really is that way with religion and culture, but the nuances aren’t explored, explained, or even acknowledged, unfortunately.

It is clear that the author knows Islam and Pakistan, her love of them (assumption) just doesn’t come through.  Her off hand remarks about a lota, and ayatul kursi, and her Pakistani ranking system are funny, and momentarily relatable.  Unfortunately, so often it seems the story is positioned so that the religion and culture are stifling and the western world is being denied to her.  Honestly after reading the book, I’m not really sure why she doesn’t rebel and do what she wants, the story doesn’t really show what she gets out of doing what her parents want her to do, and why it would matter to her in the long run to do what she wants as a “rebellious” teen.  

FLAGS:

There is alcohol mentioned and consumed.  There are a lot of relationship topics  explored throughout the book including the minor characters deciding to have sex and the  main character kissing.  For mature readers, high school and up.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I wouldn’t present this book to a book club, nor can I see myself suggesting anyone to read it.

 

 

Jul11

Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif

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Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif

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This book fails on so many levels: the writing quality, the title, the representation of Islam and Ramadan, messages about weight and beauty, and female self-worth to name a few.  This 299 page 5.0 AR book looked great as I was skimming through the library book catalog.  I knew it was young adult romance and saw that it would involve crushes and boys, and “typical” teenage stuff, but really this book has so few redeeming qualities for any demographic, I’m not sure why it was written, why it was published, and why the library shelves it.

SYNOPSIS:

Almira is a 15-year-old girl of Persian-Syrian descent living an all American life in Florida. She has good friends, is a good student, and is financially well off.  She is Muslim, but doesn’t really know what Islam is, “I’ve been to a mosque exactly twice in my life” she says.  She doesn’t pray, her parents only do on occasion, yet she feels “different.”  This over stretch is the first of many plot holes, that make the tone of the book more whiney and shallow, than the premise requires.  Having tried fasting the year before and been found cheating by her culturally strict grandfather, Almira is determined to fast this Ramadan to lose weight and prove she has willpower.  There is a glimmer that her shallowness will fade, but the weight issue is mentioned every few paragraphs and thus there is no pushing it away.  The author presents Ramadan as one giant weight loss program.  There is no mention that Ramadan as a spiritual time or reflective time.  Nope.  She is fasting to lose weight, and everyone around her is supporting it, by constantly commenting at how much better her size 8 is looking as the month progresses.  The biggest storyline in the book is that Almira wants a boyfriend.  Again, this is contrary to Islamic practices, but naturally crushes and crossing rules is a reality.  However, even to girls not faced with a religion that forbids boyfriends, the messages in this book regarding boys is pretty pathetic.  Almira changes her self to impress the boy, pretending to have interests that she doesn’t have.  She is willing to sacrifice her best friend since Kindergarten to get said boy, and while they mention that everyone treats them superficial based on their looks, they too treat each other the same way.  Almira and her friends get so much of their self worth and confidence from how boys ogle them that I found myself often cringing with disappointment.  Now, granted it is a YA book, and 15-year-old romances probably are pretty shallow, but again the whininess just starts to be too much.  There is a brief glimmer of hope when the family goes to the mosque and prays and breaks fast together, but it is short lived as Almira finally gets the boy, finishes Ramadan, and celebrates in a bikini on the beach, “And look at us, half naked on Eid,” she says to her Muslim friend, Shakira, as if that is the epitome of making it in America.

I don’t expect all books to have a message, but if you are going to have a moral message in a book, I would hope that a book written on a 5th grade level would have a good one.  This book’s lesson is to lie and lead a double life.  And no that is not me over simplifying and putting my own bias on the author’s storyline choices.  “I’ll sneak out with Peter whenever I can, while I show my parents a goody-two-shoes facade that will be impenetrable.  I can keep this secret,” thinks Almira as the book concludes (page 287) and everything is right in her world. She feels a tinge of guilt that she can’t talk to her parents, not guilt at her actions, which is really the epitome of my confusion to why the book has an Islamic implied title.  Ok I get maybe she wants a bit of cultural layers to add depth to the characters, but why structure the book on religion when religion is made to be such a joke by failing to give it any substance? Had she made it more cultural and the characters culturally are Muslim, even that would have worked better.  But, they aren’t.  The parents are really really one dimensional.  Mom is “hot” and even when the family is talking she is in the corner doing crunches.  She loves karaoke and doesn’t like grandpa is about all we know about her.  Nothing about her dreams, her family, her life growing up, her fears, her education.  Dad similarly is pretty flat.  He is a dentist and just looks at people’s teeth. He goes from being uber mellow and cool, to deleting pictures on her computer and yelling at her that she can’t date.  Neither trait seem to define him, and make an already shaky premise, more awkward.  Almira whines and complains about her parents, but they overall seem supportive and kind, again a plot hole that makes the book lose traction.  Grandpa is the scary old-world stereotypical character, that calls everyone a prostitute that doesn’t dress modestly, but goest out of his way to teach Almira to drive.  The grandma fades into the back ground, but oddly enough the author takes time to mention that recently she started wearing a scarf and used to wear heels and make-up, so did grandpa call her a prostitute? Again things don’t line up and once again the female characters are defined by their looks, and the males as being hot tempered and judgemental.  It is unfortunate that the foundation of the book is so weak.   Additionally, all the pop culture references, already start to date the book (it was written in 2011), most 15 year olds today probably are not obsessed with Robert Pattinson and Angelina Jolie. The author tries really  hard to sound like a teenager, that at times it seems overly forced.

WHY I LIKE IT:

Obviously I’m not a big fan of the book, so finding things I like is a bit of a stretch.  I have more hope that girls can be strong and independent and not completely boy and appearance obsessed.  And while I know that is wishful thinking, this book just validates the sad idea that self worth is tied to looking good in a swimsuit and having a boyfriend.  I feel like our daughters deserve more, are capable of more.  I like that Almira is willing to try new things, like fasting and going to the mosque. And I do like that she more or less puts up with her grandfather in a kind manner, even though they disagree about most everything.  In terms of the “romance” aspect at least the author didn’t go overboard.  The characters kiss and hold hands, it does stay within the PG-13 guidelines. So, Alhumdulillah, if a young Muslima picks it up thinking she might actually read about an amazing, spiritual Ramadan experience, she will be terribly disappointed, but at least she wont be exposed to something R-rated.

FLAGS:

The flags are with content, presentation, and writing style. There is no language.  The idea of violence, if her grandfather caught her with her boyfriend stoning her, seems out of place and not a realistic threat.  There is nothing negative per se about Islam, as there really is no Islam in it. I doubt even someone with no Islamic knowledge would equate anything in the book with Muslims.  They may wonder if in fact we lose weight during Ramadan, but that is about it.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

There isn’t much to discuss in the book, just criticize unfortunately. The author’s blog reveals that Islam and cultural characters seem to be a common back drop in her books, but I doubt I’ll muster up the desire to read any other novels of hers to see if they ever serve more than that.