Tag Archives: STEM

Oct24

Nadia and Nadir Lunch in the Leaves by Marziah A. Ali illustrated by Lala Stellune

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Nadia and Nadir Lunch in the Leaves by Marziah A. Ali illustrated by Lala Stellune

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This 32 page early reader is absolutely adorable with jumping in the leaves, sibling love, imaginary unicorns and dragons, yummy food, Pakistani culture and delightful illustrations.  Books in this genre aren’t particularly known for their story telling, but with chapter breaks and relatable experiences I was absolutely pulled in to Nadia and Nadir’s world and family.  My seven year old loved that he could read it independently and was delighted to see himself so reflected in the text, infact I have given in and we will be having chicken tikka and raita for dinner tomorrow, but I’m not raking the leaves, haha.

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SYNOPSIS:

Siblings Nadia and Nadir are woken up by there mother with the promise of a surprise.  The hints are crunchy and colorful, and when the kids realize it isn’t a giant bowl of cereal outside, they are excited to jump into the giant pile of leaves their abu has raked up in the yard.  The kids dive and swim and imagine themselves to be dinosaurs and unicorns as their dad grills chicken tikka and their mom watches on shelling walnuts.

The kids bump heads and decide to play something a little safer by making faces with the leaves, branches, walnut shells, and flowers.  They create a family portrait and then it is time to eat lunch and drink chai.

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WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that it is a very recognizable family: the women are wearing hijab, urdu words are sprinkled in, and Pakistani foods are being eaten, there is no othering, all kids will enjoy the story, and Muslim and desi Muslims specifically will feel seen.

I love that there is imagination and dad cooking and hanging out in a chill environment.  There is a glossary at the back, but for this demographic I actually really like it.  It allows for the independent reader to use a book tool to understand a word.  I also like that illustrations of the words flutter around the cartoon author and illustrator blurbs.

There are details about the trees dropping the leaves as well as why the leaves are changing color.

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FLAGS:

None

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TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

Too young for a book club selection, but ideal to have on the shelves of a classroom library, school library, or home library.

Well done alhumdulillah.  Paperback and library bound additions available here.  The book is part of a series, but can be purchased individually or as a set.  I plan to review each of the six books over the next few months.

Dec6

Girls Who Code by Stacia Deutsch and Michelle Schusterman

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Girls Who Code by Stacia Deutsch and Michelle Schusterman

I sadly think that it is safe to say that whenever you see a book that features a cast of characters meant to include multiple minority groups, certain representation is going to read more generic and formulaic than others.  Translation: just because you see a hijabi on the cover, do not rush out to obtain, purchase, and read the entire series.  Chances are if a scarf wearing Muslim is being featured, the details will be simplistic, the rep mediocre, and the OWN voice emotion lacking.  Also know, that other minority groups will have similarly been included for their surface level representation and not necessarily for any real depth.  This includes the boxes to be checked for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and LGBTQ+ storylines, characters, and/or side references.  This is a sweeping generalization, and inshaAllah when I am proven wrong, I will happily point those books out too.  This series hopes to appeal to middle grade female readers (AR 4.0-4.6) with an emphasis on coding, but not so much on how it is done or how they learn it, but how it helps them in their other passions and dramas.  I read books two and four, since the Muslim character is not introduced until book two and I wanted to see how she is developed as the series advances.  Each book is told from a different girl’s perspective so it is assumed that book five, could be Leila’s, but honestly with the focus on crushes, dances, and relationships, I won’t be sticking around to find out.

SYNOPSIS:

BOOK 2: TEAM BFF: RACE TO THE FINISH! is told from Sophia’s perspective.  She is hispanic, has lots of little sisters, loves sports and has a lot of responsibility.  The original four girls reach out to Leila, a new girl from Pakistan to join their coding team and even end up naming their robot Zahira.  When Soph is forced to take care of her siblings instead of go to the hackathon, she will have to learn to ask for help and lean on others when she can’t do everything herself.  It also means she will have to take charge with the upcoming dance and ask Sammy out herself.

BOOK 4: SPOTLIGHT ON CODING CLUB:  The school is doing a new virtual format for the talent show and that means that the coding club has to design a website, an app, and collect all the data.  They don’t have much time, and with everyone’s time stretched thin with other obligations, Erin keeps volunteering to do more.  Her hope is that if she is so busy she can’t think, her anxiety won’t flare up  and she won’t stress too much about her dad who is deployed on a secret mission.  When their teacher announces that she is leaving, the group seems to be falling apart as well, and something will have to give.

WHY I LIKE IT:

The first two books are written by one author, and then three is written by someone else, as is book four.  The writing quality of book four is much better, and the insight in to mental illness, divorced parents, a parent actively deployed, and being stretched too thin, will resonate a lot stronger with readers, than the more whiney presentation of the second book.  Each book seems to also present with a new crush storyline: in the second book it is Sophia recognizing changing feelings for a friend, and in book four it is a lesbian crush that has the side characters angsty.  I wish more about the girls as individuals was stressed rather than having them all be defined by their hundreds of hobbies and extracurriculars.  I was exhausted just imagining all the places they have to be in a week and the frantic pace they must keep to ensure they get there. I get that the demographic is probably giggly over crushes, but honestly they seem so forced and unnecessary in books that already have a lot of moving parts.

FLAGS:

Lying, crushes (gay and straight), anxiety triggers, stress.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I don’t know that I would even shelve these in an Islamic School, the idea is good, the execution not so much.

Sep17

Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds by Samira Ahmed

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Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds by Samira Ahmed

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Make sure you are sitting in a comfy spot when you crack open this middle grades fantasy adventure, because it hits the ground running from the very beginning and doesn’t let up over 368 pages.  The like-able and relatable brother sister duo snarkily banter and bicker about everything from cultural Indian (Desi) folklore, religious stories, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, He-Man, Arabic Sesame Street, Star Wars, hygiene, fears, potential science fair projects, and food, all while battling jinn, devs, peris, and reality as they work to save the worlds.  The book is chalked full of STEM concepts, cultural touchstone, Islamic footholds, pop culture, and fun, as one character remarks, it is the ultimate fan fiction. I regularly Googled people, references, and concepts, and ended up learning quite a bit.  And don’t fret if you ever get lost or confused, or something doesn’t make sense, you don’t have to worry that you missed something or that the author left a gap in the narrative, the book moves quick and Amira’s constant dialogue and commentary points out all the ridiculousness of what they are experiencing and the questions that she wishes she had time to ask, explore, and discover.  The author never loses control of the narrative, and keeps the world building on level without skimping on details and understanding.  I have not loved any of the author’s previous books in their entirety, I think this one, however, is her best one yet, and the switch to middle grades is a good fit.  

SYNOPSIS:

Twelve-year-old Amira and her 10-year-old brother Hamza are heading to the Shriner’s Madinah Temple in their hometown of Chicago to explore the exhibit of Ancient Astronomy artifacts, or as Hamza calls it “tools that belonged to dead Muslim Astrologers.”  Hosted by the Islamic Society of Ancient Astronomy corresponds with the eclipse viewing party of the incredibly rare super blood blue moon.  In typical Hamza fashion however, a Nerf gun is brought and things are touched.  When Amira is tasked with bringing her brother up to the roof to learn how to use the telescopes, the two scuffle over a small box with a tiny moon inside, a series of snatching and tussling between the siblings cause the Box of the Moon to break, or rather start working.  As day turns to night, the moon seems to be breaking a part, and everyone in the world is suspended in sleep except for Amira and Hamza, and an entire jinn army is heading their way.

When jinn leaders Abdul Rahman and Maqbool reach the children they must convince them that they are not there to harm them, but rather to recruit them as the chosen ones to save the worlds: Qaf and Earth and the barrier, the moon, that keeps the realms separate from destruction at the hands of Ifrit.  The confusion over there being two of them creeps up, but is squashed as Suleiman the Wise left tests to prove that the chosen one is properly equipped to battle Iftrit as it has been prophesized.  The children must work together to prove themselves they must then actually seek out and defeat Ifrit.  As tests and challenges arise, it becomes clear (pun intended) that the two are not the chosen ones, but with no option of turning back they must forge ahead none-the-less.

“What? We’re Indian, dude, we were basically born half doctor.”

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love Amira and Hamza’s banter.  The references are at times laugh out loud funny.  Similarly, I was impressed by all the historical and STEM concepts intertwined in the story, there is even a tiny bit about mental health.  I learned about parts of the moon, historical figures, folklore, and more.  The characters are Muslim, Amira wears Ayatul Kursi around her neck and they talk of Sunday school.  The book isn’t religious though, in they aren’t saying Bismillah before they embark on things, or supplicating when in danger, but they greet different beings with peace, and the framing is clearly from an Islamic paradigm.  I think the high speed pacing works for most of the book, and somehow you still get to know and connect with the characters, but at times a slight pause to clarify a point would have been nice.  I would have liked to have the kids proving they were the chosen ones a bit more articulate and dramatic before hand rather than in retrospect.  I feel like the jinn transportation of cauldrons could have used a bit of backstory as well.  And a little fleshing out of the scroll, the government structure and communication methods of Qaf, would have helped some of the transitions between the action.  I read a digital ARC and it had a page reserved for a map, and I think when the physical book comes out that will be really helpful, as I didn’t quite fully understand the 18 realms and their locations  in comparison to the locations the children encounter.  

FLAGS:

UPDATE:  I TOOK THIS BOOK AS COMPLETE FICTION. THAT THE ISLAMIC PREMISE WAS A STARTING OFF POINT, AND DIDN’T DWELL TOO MUCH ON THE ACCURACY.  I READ AN ADVANCED READER COPY OF THE BOOK THAT DID NOT HAVE ALL THE SUPPLEMENTAL AUTHOR’S NOTES AND RESOURCES AT THE END.  I WAS UNAWARE THAT THE AUTHOR FELT SHE WAS INCOPERATING FACT AND ACCURACY IN THIS INCREDIBLY FICTIONALIZED BOOK. AND AS A RESULT I AM NERVOUS TO SUGGEST THIS BOOK TO THE MIDDLE GRADE INTENDED AUDIENCE.  IF YOU HAVE A MUSLIM CHILD THAT IS WELL VERSED ON PROPHET SULAIMAN, THE CONCEPT OF FICTION, AND IS OLDER THAN THE IMPRESSIONABLE EIGHT OR NINE YEAR OLD INTENDED AUDIENCE, ONLY THEN PERHAPS WOULD THIS BOOK WORK FOR YOU.  IT WOULD BE VERY MISLEADING IF YOUR CHILD TAKES THE TWISTED STORY AS FACTUAL AND BASED ON THE NOTES AND RESOURCES AT THE END, THIS VERY WELL COULD HAPPEN. To read more about the concerns you can click here and head over to Muslim Mommy Blogs take on the book.

There is magic and magical beings. A transgendered jinn.  It mentions Amira and Hamza celebrating Halloween. Death and fighting.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I think this would be a great audio book to listen to with the family or a read aloud in a middle grades classroom.  It is too young for middle school readers to not find it slightly predictable, but if you had it on a classroom or home shelf I am sure it would be picked up, read, enjoyed by middle grades and middle schoolers alike.  It reads much like the Rick Riordan Presents series and I hope that there are more books featuring Amira and Hamza in the future.

 

Apr3

You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

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You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

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This OWN story, upper middle grades book, is heavy on the pop culture, relatable on the Islamic family presentation and honest in its portrayal of Islamaphobia, yet somehow the tidiness in which everything wrapped up seemed too forced and a bit flat.  At 293 pages, including a three page glossary, the book is a quick read meant mainly for girls.  It involves robotics, academic achievement, and invention, while also discussing crushes, a character coming out to his family and friends, and mention of girls not praying at certain times of the month.

SYNOPSIS:

Layla lives in Australia and goes to the Islamic School of Brisbane. Her Sudanese family: older brother, younger twin brothers, and parents, her Doctor mom and medical machine tech dad, are active Muslims and proud of their culture.  They assimilate to Australian norms in varying degrees, but with all the kids at ISB, Layla doesn’t feel all that different in her school and social life.  Unfortunately she wants more, she wants to be an adventurer, and when she meets Adam over the break and learns about the various opportunities he has it his school, Layla decides she wants to prove herself on a larger stage.  Going in to “shut down” mode Layla has tunnel vision to ace the scholarship and entrance exam and go to a new school.

She gets in to Mary Maxmillion Grammar School and when she goes to meet the board they let her know that the decision to accept a girl like her was not unanimous.  Layla is an immigrant, she is black, she wears hijab, she is loud and proud, and apparently very smart, but as one trustee asks, is she brave?  On the first day of school she arrives late to first period, insults the teacher repeatedly and also makes friends with a group of slightly diverse boys.  At the end of the day however, Peter, a boy who had insulted her earlier, reinforces his disapproval of her being allowed at their school and pushes her.  Standing her ground, she verbal attacks and then head butts the boy in front of a large portion of the school at dismissal.  No one offers any help, nor speaks up when she is suspended for a week, her scholarship and admission put on probation, no one even asks for her side of the story, Peter, is let off completely free, as he is also the son of the Board Chairman.

Layla decides to prove she belongs at the school she is going to win a prestigious robotics competition and since everyone already is on a team, she decides to go for it solo.  The only problem, is she doesn’t know what to invent.  When she returns to school, her friend that she is crushing hard on is acting weird, and she gets caught up in a lie of sorts that serves as both the idea and silliness turned cleverness of the book.  While choking on gummy worms, she says she is working on an edible actuator for her robot, and somehow has to make that come to fruition.

The rest of the book is Layla making a lot of silly errors of judgement: missing classes being in SD mode in the workshop, forgetting to file the paperwork and registration to actually compete in the competition, and leads up to the resolution between her and Peter, learning her crush is gay, and deciding to be herself and proud of it.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I actually like the majority of the book, I really like how Islam is presented and lived.  They pray and say salam and cover, and recite tasbeeha to reflect, and quote hadith very naturally, even how others attack them, and the anger that Layla’s brother Ozzie feels at his inability to get a part time job reads and feels very authentic.  I also like how one of the teacher’s own experience as being a descendant of the forgotten generation and being a first nations ethnicity is woven in.  I felt the side character being gay was added and forced in as an after thought and I don’t know why, as it didn’t show Layla to be a particularly good friend.  She handled his coming out well, but when he was miserable she was wrapped up in her own stuff and didn’t reach out very well, even though he ended up being the spark for her invention.  Her friend at ISB is also an under developed character, that while I get is used to show another side of Layla, in many ways also showed her to be a rather poor friend.

I found the pop culture references annoying, not in and of themselves, but in knowing that they will date and make the book irrelevant in a few short years.  There is a lot of repetition of phrases and ideas that a few times when I put the book down I struggled to re-find my place (I know bookmarks, right?) but certain refrains and paragraphs seem so very similar.  I

There is a lot of good information about Sudan and their food and culture and traditions.  There is also a decent amount about Muslims in Australia.  I like that even within her family there are different views on how much to assimilate, and how much to fight back against perceptions, the fact that there is a lot of gray makes non Muslims and non immigrants reading the book hopefully realize how diverse all people are and to not assume anyone is only one way.  I would have liked more about Layla’s mom and being recruited to come to Australia, and how she was perceived at work, by patients and colleagues.  I also would have liked some sort of resolution about Ozzie and his job search.  Really though my biggest complaint is Layla, herself.  What does it even mean to want to be an adventurer? I like that she is fallible and human and in some ways she does grow, but I felt like her being smart and a go-getter is the foundation of the story, but that she didn’t seem to have much common sense seems a bit off.  Yes she is loud and funny and puts in hard work, but the way she talks to teachers, and misses classes and deadlines, and behaves seems like a disconnect from the pages constantly telling me how smart she is.  To me, part of being smart is knowing when to lash out and when to listen, I don’t feel like her growth arc was all that great, in a nut shell, she changed schools and confronted a bully, that is the story, while not a bad story, it could have been so much more.

FLAGS:

There is crushing, violence, a gay character, mention of alcohol at a party Layla didn’t attend, talk of hooking up in passing and some language.  There is lying but it is acknowledged guiltily, and not familiar with Australian slang, regular use of the phrase, Janey Mack, which according to google is a replacement for Jesus Christ.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I don’t know why I wouldn’t use this book as a book club selection.  It just didn’t strike me as something they would benefit from.  I wouldn’t be opposed to someone picking it up and reading it in my house, but I doubt I’ll recommend it to my daughter and she is the ideal reader: she wears hijab, is in 8th grade at an Islamic school, and loves to read.  The book is really not memorable as good or bad, it just fell flat and I doubt I’ll read it again, luckily it only took two sittings to read, so I don’t feel like it was a waste of time, but seeing as I had to pay cover price and international shipping, I kind of regret rushing to buy it.

Teacher guide: https://www.penguin.com.au/content/resources/TR_YouMustBeLayla.pdf

Sep30

Najma by Anousha Vakani illustrated by Ayesha Sohail

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Najma by Anousha Vakani illustrated by Ayesha Sohail

 

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In a world of new STEM books and female powered books, this 28 page fact driven story adds one more empowering element, Islam.  With beautiful pictures on thick glossy pages, the 10×10 book is both educational and endearing for boys and girls ages 6 and up.

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There isn’t a story with a climax or moral, but there are characters, Najma and her astronomer Mom, who move the book along, and keep it “grounded” so to speak.

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Little Najma loves the stars and space above her, she knows Allah created them, but she wants to know more about them, what they provide, and how Allah made them.

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Mama and Najma look through a telescope as Mama teaches the life cycle of a star in simple terms over 11 pages.

 

 

Najma then asks what stars are for, and Mama tells her the benefits of the sun that Allah swt made for us and the stars as well.  Mama explains Allah only has to say, Be and it is.

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Every scientific concept, and daily life example is tied back to Allah swt.  And with Najma’s adorable little face, and the beautiful complimentary illustrations, the book conveys facts about the universe, love between mother and child, and awe at Allah’s signs.IMG_7189

Thank you Crescent Moon Store for amazingly fast delivery of this brand new book.  InshaAllah there will be more books like this combining science, Allah, and strong females for us all to learn from and enjoy.