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antoinettepowb's review
4.0
Prophecies, a breaking moon, jinns and a brother and sister who have to save the world are a great mix for an adventure! Amira and Hamza are a fun duo. With Amira's love for science and logic and Hamza's daring ways they balance each other well. They fight and play just like any siblings and at the same time show each other the love, comfort and support they need to defeat the evil Ifrit, This is a fascinating blend of magic and science and a wonderful middle grade read.
allycatt12's review
3.0
A lot of pop culture references which is great for right now but will age and would need to look stuff up in a decade or so.
kcook14's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
the_fabric_of_words's review
5.0
Twelve-year-old Amira and her younger brother Hamza are spirited out of an Islamic Society of Ancient Astronomy exhibit of ancient artifacts and off to the fantastic world of Qaf on a night of a rare blue moon.
Hamza picks an artifact, Al-Biruni's Box of the Moon, out of a display case, convinced he can solve it. It's a puzzle box of sorts, and Amira knows he shouldn't touch it and admonishes him to put it back. But as they wrestle, it drops and opens. It puts everyone except Amira and Hamza to sleep.
A gold throne descends from the moon with two jinn of the Emperor of Qaf's army looking for Amira and Hamza. Maqbool and Vizier Abdul Rahman reveal it's the kids' destiny, as Chosen One (or Ones, pay attention to that, hint, hint), to help defend the Earth from Ifrit and his coming onslaught of devs and ghuls who will, shortly, break free of their imprisonment on the moon.
Qaf is not at all what the kids expect, and the tasks they must complete to get the gifts they'll need to fight with -- retrieving a chest from the Arena of Suleiman -- are near-impossible. Amira's budding knowledge of scientific principles, specifically of magnetic properties of lodestone, enables them to get inside and get the "gifts" they need -- a dagger, a quiver of emerald-tipped arrows, and a cummerbund (yes, the kind worn with tuxedos).
From there they head to the Obsidian Wall, which surrounds Qaf, and Amira figures out how to breach it again using her knowledge of scientific principles, this time of oobleck, a colloid or mixture of solid particles in a liquid that has properties of both, also referred to as a non-Newtonian fluid. But once through, Hamza's rash decisions alert Ifrit and the whole jinn realm of their advance into Qaf.
I won't spoil what happens next, but you've been warned: nothing in Qaf is as it seems.
Enjoy this wonderfully diverse, Muslim-based middle grade fantasy that employs scientific principles in a fun, innovative way!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog, The Fabric of Words, for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Hamza picks an artifact, Al-Biruni's Box of the Moon, out of a display case, convinced he can solve it. It's a puzzle box of sorts, and Amira knows he shouldn't touch it and admonishes him to put it back. But as they wrestle, it drops and opens. It puts everyone except Amira and Hamza to sleep.
A gold throne descends from the moon with two jinn of the Emperor of Qaf's army looking for Amira and Hamza. Maqbool and Vizier Abdul Rahman reveal it's the kids' destiny, as Chosen One (or Ones, pay attention to that, hint, hint), to help defend the Earth from Ifrit and his coming onslaught of devs and ghuls who will, shortly, break free of their imprisonment on the moon.
Qaf is not at all what the kids expect, and the tasks they must complete to get the gifts they'll need to fight with -- retrieving a chest from the Arena of Suleiman -- are near-impossible. Amira's budding knowledge of scientific principles, specifically of magnetic properties of lodestone, enables them to get inside and get the "gifts" they need -- a dagger, a quiver of emerald-tipped arrows, and a cummerbund (yes, the kind worn with tuxedos).
From there they head to the Obsidian Wall, which surrounds Qaf, and Amira figures out how to breach it again using her knowledge of scientific principles, this time of oobleck, a colloid or mixture of solid particles in a liquid that has properties of both, also referred to as a non-Newtonian fluid. But once through, Hamza's rash decisions alert Ifrit and the whole jinn realm of their advance into Qaf.
I won't spoil what happens next, but you've been warned: nothing in Qaf is as it seems.
Enjoy this wonderfully diverse, Muslim-based middle grade fantasy that employs scientific principles in a fun, innovative way!
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog, The Fabric of Words, for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
popthebutterfly's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Disclaimer: I received a finished paperback copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Amira and Hazma: The War to Save the Worlds
Author: Samira Ahmed
Book Series: Amira and Hazma Book 1
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Desi American MC and characters and Desi characters
Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, mythology, Desi mythology, science fiction, Percy Jackson like, HP replacement
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Genre: MG Fantasy
Age Relevance: 10+ (racism, violence, poisoning, gore, climate disasters, human trafficking, kidnapping)
Explanation of Above: There are mentions of racism, violence, poisoning, and vomit gore. There are some climate disasters that happen in this book. There is a vague reference to human trafficking. There is some shown kidnapping.
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 368
Synopsis: On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, twelve-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world—literally.
Suddenly, day turns to night, everyone around Amira and Hamza falls under a sleep spell, and a chunk of the moon breaks off, hurtling toward them at lightning speed, as they come face-to-face with two otherworldly creatures: jinn.
The jinn reveal that the siblings have a role to play in an ancient prophecy. Together, they must journey to the mystical land of Qaf, battle a great evil, and end a civil war to prevent the moon—the stopper between realms—from breaking apart and unleashing terrifying jinn, devs, and ghuls onto earth. Or they might have to say goodbye to their parents and life as they know it, forever.…
Review: I thought this was an adorable read! The book is about two siblings who accidently open up a mystical box that puts everyone around them to sleep and starts some very cataclysmic events. I loved the action and the mythology in this story and I love how science was at the forefront of this book with one of the MCs being a science lover. I loved the story and the writing was phenomenally done. The world building was amazing and the characters were very well developed. I also want to point out the siblings acted very sibling like. The book is very Percy Jackson like and it’s an excellent HP replacement.
The only issue I had with the book is that I thought it was a bit too fast paced in some places.
Verdict: I loved it! Highly recommend!
Book: Amira and Hazma: The War to Save the Worlds
Author: Samira Ahmed
Book Series: Amira and Hazma Book 1
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Desi American MC and characters and Desi characters
Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, mythology, Desi mythology, science fiction, Percy Jackson like, HP replacement
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
Genre: MG Fantasy
Age Relevance: 10+ (racism, violence, poisoning, gore, climate disasters, human trafficking, kidnapping)
Explanation of Above: There are mentions of racism, violence, poisoning, and vomit gore. There are some climate disasters that happen in this book. There is a vague reference to human trafficking. There is some shown kidnapping.
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 368
Synopsis: On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, twelve-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world—literally.
Suddenly, day turns to night, everyone around Amira and Hamza falls under a sleep spell, and a chunk of the moon breaks off, hurtling toward them at lightning speed, as they come face-to-face with two otherworldly creatures: jinn.
The jinn reveal that the siblings have a role to play in an ancient prophecy. Together, they must journey to the mystical land of Qaf, battle a great evil, and end a civil war to prevent the moon—the stopper between realms—from breaking apart and unleashing terrifying jinn, devs, and ghuls onto earth. Or they might have to say goodbye to their parents and life as they know it, forever.…
Review: I thought this was an adorable read! The book is about two siblings who accidently open up a mystical box that puts everyone around them to sleep and starts some very cataclysmic events. I loved the action and the mythology in this story and I love how science was at the forefront of this book with one of the MCs being a science lover. I loved the story and the writing was phenomenally done. The world building was amazing and the characters were very well developed. I also want to point out the siblings acted very sibling like. The book is very Percy Jackson like and it’s an excellent HP replacement.
The only issue I had with the book is that I thought it was a bit too fast paced in some places.
Verdict: I loved it! Highly recommend!
lkstrohecker's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
hazelalaska's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5 stars
I picked this up on a whim, and I'm glad I did because I had a really great time. I wasn't sure about it at first, especially since the beginning jumps right in and is pretty fast-paced, but I soon came to love the characters. I think it is kind of similar to Aru Shah, though I haven't finished the series yet and read book 1 when it first came out, so I could be wrong. With her love of science, Amira also reminded me of Paola Santiago
Spoilers
I really liked Maqbool, and I was sad when he died, but I guess he died for a good cause. He acted as sort of a mentor to Amira and Hamza, believing in them even though they, at least according to the prophecy, were not supposed to be the chosen ones. I did think that the tension between the kids and Aasman Peri was resolved a bit too easily, because when she first met them she was disdainful because they were human kids, but then it seemed like she was pretty okay with them after that. I would have liked the book to explore this tension and have her more gradually come to like them.
I also thought the kids triumphed over Ifrit a bit too easily, because it seemed like he wasn't even really that powerful or even really trying. The ending left open the possibility for a sequel and I really hope we get it because it might solve this issue for me, and I just really loved this more than I was expecting to.
I picked this up on a whim, and I'm glad I did because I had a really great time. I wasn't sure about it at first, especially since the beginning jumps right in and is pretty fast-paced, but I soon came to love the characters. I think it is kind of similar to Aru Shah, though I haven't finished the series yet and read book 1 when it first came out, so I could be wrong. With her love of science, Amira also reminded me of Paola Santiago
Spoilers
I really liked Maqbool, and I was sad when he died, but I guess he died for a good cause. He acted as sort of a mentor to Amira and Hamza, believing in them even though they, at least according to the prophecy, were not supposed to be the chosen ones. I did think that the tension between the kids and Aasman Peri was resolved a bit too easily, because when she first met them she was disdainful because they were human kids, but then it seemed like she was pretty okay with them after that. I would have liked the book to explore this tension and have her more gradually come to like them.
I also thought the kids triumphed over Ifrit a bit too easily, because it seemed like he wasn't even really that powerful or even really trying. The ending left open the possibility for a sequel and I really hope we get it because it might solve this issue for me, and I just really loved this more than I was expecting to.
danadoesbooks's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Thank you to Libro.FM through their Educator ALC program for the gifted audiobook of Amira and Hamza: The War To Save The Worlds! All opinions in this review are my own.
Amira & Hamza is an excellent adventure middle grade story! Told in the traditional fantasy quest format, Amira and Hamza must pass a series of tests before they can truly save the world. I love how passionate Amira is about science and how she uses her knowledge to solve some of the problems!
Amira & Hamza is an excellent adventure middle grade story! Told in the traditional fantasy quest format, Amira and Hamza must pass a series of tests before they can truly save the world. I love how passionate Amira is about science and how she uses her knowledge to solve some of the problems!
mathstalio's review against another edition
3.0
As always I am aware that I'm not the target audience here. The plot was fun bit the writing was a bit simplistic and didn't captivate me entirely.