Tag Archives: wrongfully accused

Oct8

The Steinway Seven: A Novel by Badees Nouiouat

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The Steinway Seven: A Novel by Badees Nouiouat

This 308 page book is classified as a YA read for content, but it plays out in dual points of view by adults.  Years ago I would have classified it as, “Islamic fiction,” but those lines have been blurred in recent years, and the author mercifully doesn’t get overly preachy or didactic with the ample Islamic references and framing- it is who the characters are, or strive to be, and part of their world.  I’ll admit by the fourth chapter, I was nervous.  The author does not shy away from positioning his characters in rough spots from the get go: an escaped convict and non practicing young Muslim man joining the NYPD, and I didn’t know if he would be able to keep it believable and engaging, but alhumdulillah he did, and I enjoyed the book. In very much a YA framing, the self awareness and character arcs of realization is the underlying heart for the surface story of being on the run and attempts to capture and avoid being caught.  With heavy themes of understanding and coming to peace with one’s past, the reader is shown historical turmoil in Algeria, insight into motives and struggles of undocumented immigration, and given plenty to ponder about forgiveness, laws, faith, kindness, and second chances.  This book would be an easy recommendation for all readers 14/15 or up, there is crime, drugs, racism, gun violence, killing, arson etc., but nothing is overly graphic or dwelled upon. The characters are “good,” but exist in situations where gray surrounds them and would offer a lot to discuss in classrooms or book clubs.

SUMMARY (from the back of the book):

The night before 22-year old Saif Belkacem starts his new job as an NYPD officer, seven convicts escape a prison van and disappear into the streets of New York City.

Among them is Yasin Bamba, a wrongfully imprisoned Guinean immigrant who decides to seize the opportunity to find freedom.

While Saif and his colleagues race to find the seven fugitives, Saif slowly uncovers the story of his father’s death in Algeria, and his life starts to intertwine with Yasin’s in more ways than he could have imagined.

WHY I LIKE IT:
It is clear the author understands craft and storytelling, and I really think if he dug a little deeper and fleshed out some of the tension and rising action, this book could be traditionally published if he wanted to pursue it.  I’m not critiquing it to be picky for the potential readers, but rather for the author (a first for everything, forgive me if I’m overstepping), as I have a feeling he has been waiting for this review. Nonetheless here I go, voice: Saif’s voice is too immature at times, and his mother’s underdeveloped and non existent. Yasin, should be a bit wiser and hardened as a result of his circumstances and lived experience, he seems to just float from encounter to the next, not moving around like someone who has been in his own head since leaving home and mulled over some of his perceived truths.  Pacing: raise the stakes at every turn, keep the reader on the edge of their seat, for the surface story but also show the turmoil of Saif uncovering his past, at the 200 page mark it breaks from the story to info dump the historical and personal past in a way that really takes Saif out of the action. Weave it in, provide tension and motive of why his mother so easily now gives up all the information and why Saif never Googled it on his own.  The ending is beautiful and truly I wanted to know which way and what choices Yasin and Saif would make, but you didn’t really make me, the reader, work for it, and I think some twists and turns and emotional pain for the reader rather than just resolving it all for us, would give the book more depth and excitement. Show us the internal struggles, the temptation, the uncertainty raging inside them.  The heart and character arcs are there, they just feel a little too easy and surface at times, and yes I say this because I think the writing has a lot of potential and the author can do it.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I would love to do this as a book club read, high school for sure, possibly middle school, depending on the kids.  There is a lot to ponder and unpack, discuss and consider.  Muslim kids particularly will have some stereotypes to grapple with and hopefully think over as the book doesn’t make the characters and their situations black and white, haram and halal.

 

Feb27

Accused: My Story of Injustice (I, Witness Series Book 1) by Adama Bah

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Accused: My Story of Injustice (I, Witness Series Book 1) by Adama Bah

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This is the first book in a new middle grades nonfiction series and is Adama Bah telling her own story about being detained as a 16 year old and falsely accused of being a suicide bomber.  A story that sounds like a movie plot is painfully real and terrifying and hearing it in her own words is powerful and impactful.  The writing is very basic in its linear format and straightforward presentation of the experience through her eyes.  It is not sensationalized or overly explanatory about how this situation came to be, how she got out of it, or what the family had to go to to find lawyers and pay for them, for example.  It is how she felt, what she understood at the time, and how the experience shaped her.  While the writing style is sufficient for middle grades, her story is intense.  A big part of her experience is being strip searched, exposed, and seeking asylum to avoid female circumcision.  The 128 page book is a great way to show the realities of our world.  It took place in the 2000, the recent past, to a New York teenager that enjoyed different colored sneakers, chatting with her friends, and spending time with her family, no different than the readers picking up her story to read.

SYNOPSIS:

Adama was born in Conakry, Guinea in 1988 and moved to America as a child.  She attended public school until high school when she was then sent to an Islamic boarding School in Buffalo, New York.  Her family was not particularly religious, but Adama become more visibly Muslim returning home after the attacks on September 11, wearing niqab and wondering why she was being treated with such hostility at the airport.  As she resumes her education in public school, she slowly makes the choice to take off her niqab, while maintaining her hijab and modest clothing.  In 2005 she and her father are taken in to custody early in the morning from their home and detained.  During the questioning at 16 years old, Adama learns that she is not a legal US citizen.  Her father is separated from her, to be deported, and she is moved to Pennsylvania as the youngest person swept up in a terrorist roundup.  She is being accused of being a potential suicide bomber and is detained for six weeks before a plea deal is brokered.  She will wear an ankle monitor for three years and have a nightly curfew.  During this time she is responsible to care for her family as her father has been returned to Guinea, her mother speaks very little english and she has four younger siblings.  Even after the bracelet is removed she finds herself still on no-fly lists and finally after one more time being denied and detained at the airport, she sues the Attorney General, FBI Director, and the Director of the Terrorist Screening Center. When they learn of this they offer to remove her from the no-fly list if she withdraws her case. She is granted asylum and while she had to drop out of school, she dreams of going back.  She has since married, her dad has been able to return to America, and she continues to study Islam and believe that things could have been worse.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I love that it is her story, from her eyes and perspective, but I worry that some of the details are misplaced.  She details enjoying talking bad about the government with a friend after she is released knowing that they are listening in, but maintains that she is constantly in fear of being returned to jail and that she considers America her home.  I’m not saying all of those things can’t be true and co exist, but some additional context would help the choppiness in this example and others.  I appreciated that the genital mutilation was clearly attributed to culture and not religion, I think when others tell stories about cultural and religious practices they often conflate the two.  I wish there was more information about where this mysterious list came from, what happened to the Bengali girl that was taken, how the Islamic community reacted.  The story is powerful and moving, and readers will be drawn in as they see themselves in her.  There are also questions at the end that help connect readers to her situation, and the reality that this is the unjust world we live in and can easily be consumed by as she nearly was.

FLAGS:

Detailing a strip search, detailing taking off her clothes, having orifices checked, and using the bathroom in the open.  There is talk of female circumcision although it doesn’t define it explicitly.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I think in a high school Social Studies class or current events discussion this book would be a great topic to explore and voice to highlight.  The book is short and can be read very quickly.  It is an important story to know, to learn from, to sympathize with, and be acutely aware of for people of all ages.

Jan8

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

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Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

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

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SYNOPSIS:

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

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

 

 

WHY I LIKE IT:

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

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

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FLAGS:

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

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TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

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