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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
12-year-old Fadi's family leaves Afghanistan in early 2001 as the Taliban's threats to his Western-educated father steadily increase. In the process of leaving, however, Fadi's little sister Miriam is left behind and the whole family struggles to appreciate their escape to America because they all feel responsible for leaving Mariam behind.
But that's not all that's going on in this book. There are the usual immigrant struggles to fit in, plus when 9/11 takes place we see the reaction of mainstream Afghani Muslims to the extreme actions of the terrorists their country had been hosting. Fadi deals with bullying and trying to fit in at an American middle school after being home-schooled for years. His father deals with finding a lesser-paying job when none of the colleges he is qualified to teach at have openings. His mother is sick and then battles depression as Miriam continues to be missing. His older sister has her own struggles with adjusting to a new country. There are so many things going on, and yet the book doesn't feel rushed or bursting at the seams. Some of the resolutions are a little too neat, but if that allows Senzai to tell such a layered story, I'm okay with it. My favorite thing, though had to be seeing the immediate reaction to 9/11 from a completely different perspective than I experienced it myself.
This is a great book for showing kids a different culture and yet Fadi's close-knit family and the everyday struggles of a middle schooler keep the book relatable.
But that's not all that's going on in this book. There are the usual immigrant struggles to fit in, plus when 9/11 takes place we see the reaction of mainstream Afghani Muslims to the extreme actions of the terrorists their country had been hosting. Fadi deals with bullying and trying to fit in at an American middle school after being home-schooled for years. His father deals with finding a lesser-paying job when none of the colleges he is qualified to teach at have openings. His mother is sick and then battles depression as Miriam continues to be missing. His older sister has her own struggles with adjusting to a new country. There are so many things going on, and yet the book doesn't feel rushed or bursting at the seams. Some of the resolutions are a little too neat, but if that allows Senzai to tell such a layered story, I'm okay with it. My favorite thing, though had to be seeing the immediate reaction to 9/11 from a completely different perspective than I experienced it myself.
This is a great book for showing kids a different culture and yet Fadi's close-knit family and the everyday struggles of a middle schooler keep the book relatable.
What do you do when tragedy strikes? And what do you do when you believe it is your own fault? This book shows how important family is and yet again shows the reader how important it is to share your thoughts with your family. One event can change how you look at the world. Find your passion and your life can change instantaneously.
This is a great young adult novel that deals with 9/11 and what it was like to be an Arabic kid in the US at that time. It has a great message of tolerance and hope.
Even though I'm a grownup, I still like reading YA fiction, and I really liked this book. I learned about this from NPR's "backseat book club" and would definitely recommend it. It is about adapting to a new culture, overcoming prejudices, growing up and finding one's own passions/interests, and a wrenching story about the love of family.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a great book to pair with The Breadwinner because it is about a family who escapes Afghanistan during Taliban rule and moves to the Bay Area. It also has themes that relate to being the new kid, standing up to bullies, and how families deal with incredible pain and hardship. I highly recommend this one!
This one took me a while, not because it wasn't gripping, but because we have been going through a transition of our own over the last four months. This book was well written, and covered a myriad of sensitive topics both everyday middlegrade issues to globally larger problems. I am considering using this as a readaloud for the upcoming immigration unit I will be teaching. Good for boys or girls while addressing global situations.
I read this book aloud to my 5th graders and it was wonderful. While they were skeptical at the beginning on whether they were going to enjoy it, by the end they couldn't get enough of it! The book evoked a strong range of emotions from my students and provided us with rich and powerful discussions about prejudice, racism, fear, anger, bullying, and love.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes