Tag Archives: usa

Oct26

Mama in Congress: Rashida Tlaib’s Journey to Washington by Rashida and Adam Tlaib with Miranda Paul illustrated by Olivia Aserr

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Mama in Congress: Rashida Tlaib’s Journey to Washington by Rashida and Adam Tlaib with Miranda Paul illustrated by Olivia Aserr

mama in congress

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this book.  Books by politicians are always suspect, by a politician currently in office- more so, and a book written about one’s self can be a little self promoting to say the least, but when I saw my library had it, I put it on hold and thought to give it a shot.  Surprisingly, the book is really cute.  It is framed as her son (one of the contributors) telling his mom’s story, it owns that while yes she was one of the First Muslim Congresswomen, there were a lot of people before her that ran and paved the way.  What really shocked me was the amount of Islam in the book: Salat-al-Istikharha, actively learning about Islam not just as culture, there is an Ayat from the Quran, etc.. The book says for ages 4-8 and for the amount of text on the pages, there is no way a preschooler will sit through this. I can see this book, however, being used in an elementary classroom to teach about the American political system, and inspiring kids that they can make a difference, that they can rise to positions of leadership without compromising who they are, and that no matter their background, and that they can be successful in following their dreams.  I don’t think Congresswoman Tlaib should be put on a pedal stool for some of the policies she has supported or bills endorsed, but I think even if you don’t support her politically, her story and her accomplishments do show possibilities for minorities to reach the highest levels of government.  The fact that she is a Palestinian Muslim Women and has found success in the context of American government as told from a child’s perspective, really surprised and impressed me, and I can see it being a worthwhile story to share with young students.

The book starts with two boys on the steps of the capitol, Adam and Yousif wondering if the president is their mom’s boss, and mom, saying that no, the 700,000 people in the district she represents are.  The book then pulls back and Adam starts to tell the story of him and his brother going to work with their mom, Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib the representative from Michigan.

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Before she was elected their yama and yaba immigrated from the West Bank to America, where Rashida was born.  Eventually there would be 14 kids born and Rashida would choreograph dances, basketball games, and seek privacy to dance like a pop star, or chase after the bookmobile.

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Comments toward her well-spoken mother to learn English, embarrassment at the smell of the factory polluted environment, and an offer by a high school teacher to join the debate team, helped pave the way for Rashida to find her voice and make changes.

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Rashida was the first in her family to graduate high school and from there she went to college and then law school.  She also started to learn more about Islam and the reasons behind her family’s traditions.  Her favorite passage from the Quran became, “with hardship comes ease.”

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She started working with an elected official from the Michigan House of Representatives and started a family.  When a seat became vacant she was encouraged to run.  No Muslim had ever been elected to the Michigan House and even her own yaba didn’t think people would vote for an Arab, so she prayed Salat al-Istikhara and did a lot of thinking.

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The book shows what she wanted to accomplish and how she went door-to-door and found both success and hardship meeting with the people.  Ultimately though, she won the seat and held it for many years.  When Adam was 12 she decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives, and he and his brother joined in to help knock on doors.

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She won, and was one of two Muslim women to be elected that year.  Adam and Yousif dabbed in celebration at the inauguration as their mom was sworn in in her Palestinian thobe. On her first day, however, there were threats, and Adam though they should hide the fact that they were Muslims.  Their mom told them it is important to be their authentic selves, “that sometimes it takes many to run for there to be a first.”

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The book concludes with a glossary, an infographic of the branches of government. Can be purchased here.

Jul18

Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home written and illustrated by Zahra Marwan

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Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home written and illustrated by Zahra Marwan

butter

This 48 page picture book shows the journey of a young girl from one desert to another.  The soft water colors in this author illustrated book tell so much of the story and illuminate the prose.   For me the most powerful part of the book was the backmatter.  The learning why the family had to move from Kuwait to New Mexico was new and interesting and gave the story a lot of depth.  I read it to my 6 and 3 year old and it couldn’t hold their attention, the book is not text heavy, but is is long.  I think had I read the author’s note at the end first, before sharing it with my kids, we could have discussed the pages a bit more.  I think the added framing and context would have increased connection and engaged them.  The book shows one aunt in hijab, Allah swt written in Arabic and a picture of the kaba hanging on the walls of their home, a hand of Fatima as well.  There is music and dancing and connections between family, strangers, cultures, and people.

The book starts by establishing the rich and loving life the little girl enjoys in her home: butterflies, swimming in the sea, family.  It then fades to being held close and the stress of people saying they don’t belong.  The next step is the family having to leave their extended family and say their good-byes.

They arrive in a new place, not talking like others, questioning the connections of their ancestors in this far away land.  Eventually there are some similarities, and then the music of a guitarron is heard and people dance and there is joy.

The shift opens up a feeling of home, and connections are not lost, and a new comfort is felt in a place where hot air balloons fill the sky.

As an adult I appreciated the paradigm shift of not being welcome in their home elsewhere and being welcome in America, it is subtle but a nice change.  I love a lot of details come full circle.  I think the book would be a good tool not for the intended 4-8 crowd, but for older kids in a teaching setting.  There are a lot of subtle story telling techniques that could be discussed, stereotype assumptions challenged in a nudging way, and offer social studies and political discussions.

Jul15

Love from Mecca to Medina by S.K. Ali

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Love from Mecca to Medina by S.K. Ali

mecca to medina

This book is a game changer, or better yet: an industry changer.  It is about Muslims, for Muslims, by a Muslim- but it is MAINSTREAM and a huge panoramic window for anyone and everyone to see a “halal” fictional Muslim love story in action.  With every page proudly mirroring various Muslim experiences this sequel-ish standalone-ish book is unapologetically real, without compromising good storytelling, interesting characters, and engaging plot points.  In much the same way Reem Faruqi’s Golden Girl raised the bar for upper MG/lower YA, this book shows that upper YA Muslamic stories can be told.  That the publishing world isn’t always limiting OWN voices, and that it is up to us, the consumers, to purchase these particular books, pre-order them when announced and spread the word so that the message is loud and clear that we want more books like this.  I have no doubt S.K. Ali had to fight for her vision and advocate for her book at every turn, but now that it is here, we need to step up and show support with our purchasing power.  I’ve pre-ordered mine, and I hope you will do the same before the book releases on October 18, 2022, if you cannot, please purchase it when you can, and if that is not an option please request your libraries to shelve the book (and all of her books) and put them on hold so that the gate further opens for mainstream Islamic fiction.

Preorder link on Amazon

SYNOPSIS:

Adam and Zayneb are back after falling in love in Love from A to Z and getting their nikkah done.  They aren’t living together yet, though, and they are worlds apart with Adam jobless in Doha, and Zayneb homeless in Chicago.  When communication breaks down, exes show up, and a trip to Umrah is underway with the couple divided into gender segregated groups, the couple might fall apart in the same fashion that brought them together in the first place.  The steps of Umrah are beautifully highlighted and experienced, and characters from Misfits and A-Z come back to tie it all together and help the couple, keeping hope alive.  Throw in some marvels and oddities, artifacts and interpretive labels, a unifying cat, and a whole lot of love, and you have a sweet conclusion to a Muslamic love story.

WHY I LIKE IT:

So, I obviously love the standard of unapologetic Islam that this book offers on every page while still being accessible to the larger audience.  It took a little bit for me to be sucked in to the 352 page story, but by page 100 or so, I couldn’t put it down.  The steps of Umrah brought tears to my eyes and the awesome Sausun is fierce feminist friendship goals.  I honestly didn’t love the cat narrative that frames the story, but luckily it is sparse so I could see past it. I love that this book exists, I think I love the Misfit based duology a tiny bit more, but loved that this book had crossover characters and gave many of them a final bow of sorts as well. I read the book in two days and will probably re-read it when I receive my physical copy.  It really is remarkable how much Islam is present in a fictionalized story: not a oppressed Muslim story, or biographical memoir, or refugee story, but in a solid fiction story.   There is no “othering,” this is us, and this a love story about a Muslim couple trying to make it work with outside support and stresses, and beautiful writing.  Alhumdulillah, very well done.

FLAGS:

I’d encourage mature, older YA because the characters are married and sexually active and while it isn’t graphic or depicted it is often just the words mentioning them kissing, and sleeping together and sexting.  Nothing titillating or anywhere near inappropriate, but I think a bit of maturity would help it better reflect the values of Islamic marriages and relationships.  There is some minor language and hate speech.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I would absolutely use the book for high school book club if it is mostly juniors and seniors.  I think it gives a good look at what a relationship can look like; the characters’ religious lens and lives will resonate with Islamic school students.

Jun10

Welcome to the New World by Jake Halpern illustrated by Michael Sloan

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Welcome to the New World by Jake Halpern illustrated by Michael Sloan

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I really like the concept and approach of this 192 page non-fiction graphic novel.  It isn’t a memoir or OWN voice retelling, it is basically an in-depth news story about a Syrian refugee family that has been fact checked and then illustrated.  Unfortunately, parts of the story are really choppy and unresolved, details shared for no purpose and occasionally reinforcing of stereotypes.  The book is an easy read and the Muslim family is shown to practice and be fleshed out, but more than once I found myself questioning what the author’s commentary was suggesting/implying based on what was being included.  I allowed my 12 year old son to read it before I was finished, but the last few pages had both misogynistic and homophobic slurs coming from bullies so I made sure to discuss that with him.  I think upper middle school to YA is probably the ideal readership because of the subject matter of escaping war, facing financial insecurities, PTSD, bullies, islamophobia, and navigating a new environment when you are not quite a child, but not yet an adult either.

SYNOPSIS:

Naji’s family is undecided if they should leave Syria or not.  Part of the family has permission to travel to Connecticut in America, but part of them still do not, including Naji’s grandmother.  The war has already imprisoned Naji’s father and uncles in the past and with the US election showing Trump having a chance, they feel like they need to make a decision quickly.  Naji loves all things American and is the only one in the family anxious to get to the US and get on with life, but when the moment of saying good-bye arrives, he has doubts.

Once they arrive in America, all their doubts multiply as life is difficult, help is hard to come by, and day to day fears of safety have not been left behind.  School, finding jobs, learning the language, and facing hate are just the big things that plague a family who has left everything to start over in this detailed account that follows Naji and his family as they navigate their new world.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I like that the book has been approached as a news article.  I just didn’t like the unresolved threads that seem to take up so much of the narrative only to be abandoned.  I really struggled with the idea that Naji knows America and obviously media is global, but is shown to be confused by a dining table.  I didn’t like the commentary of Naji’s sister Amal and her hijab, I find it hard to believe there aren’t other hijabs in the school or larger community and why it is made to be such a big deal by her, and those trying to help her.  It would seem small after everything she has been through.  I do like that there are a few other Muslims in the school and at least they discuss that there is not a nearby masjid.  I wish other Muslims would have been around to help settle the new family.  I know a few groups that helped in immigrants in New England, so that there were no Muslims in the welcoming groups seemed hard to accept.  By and large it does show Islam being practiced, not just names and hijabs, which I appreciated, but for a book that is based on a real family, with graphics, I really expected a stronger emotional impact that ultimately for me was just not there.

FLAGS:

Death, abuse of power, war, language, bullets, shooting, kidnappings, detainment, destruction, kids making out in hallways, implied rape/sexual assault, death threats, racism, islamophobia, misogyny, slurs, name calling, differential treatment, fear.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

This wouldn’t work for me for a book club selection, but if I ever teach a journalism class again, I think I would some how incorporate this book as a way to show what journalism can be, and also as a clear way to show how what parts you include and what parts you keep out affect the messaging of the story as well.