Reviews

Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed

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Another ultimately uplifting and satisfying book by Aisha Saeed.

However, I found myself bothered by the ANGST in the first 70% of the book. Omar was just so worried about everything and feeling guilty and there was no joy in the book to balance it. There were also a handful of sentences that had awkward phrasing which I wanted to edit.

Thankfully, the last third or so of the book opened up like a flower to the sun and the book became much more enjoyable to read. I especially appreciate the author's acknowledgments to her readers.

"If you are reading these words, I hope that no matter how tough things might get, you always and forever remain stubbornly optimistic, like Omar."

mariahistryingtoread's review

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3.0

I enjoyed Omar Rising a lot more than Amal Unbound. Though to be fair, personal preference is a huge factor here as I'm a sucker for books that take place entirely in a school.

Outside of my proclivities, I just think this was far more believable in its execution comparatively. Amal Unbound depicted a common situation in a way that felt disingenuous. While Amal certainly suffered, I felt like Saeed oversimplified the circumstances to its detriment in terms of realism. I don't doubt that Amal was in pain, I only mean that to a certain degree, it felt too easy and rather aimless as a result. It is for kids, so I expected it to be less graphic. I just did not expect it to feel so rote. I think a lot more could have been added to keep it interesting while maintaining the age level.

Back to Omar Rising, I felt it captured the cruelty of requiring money for schooling. I believe education should be free for all, and Omar Rising makes a good argument for why that should be the case. Omar has been dealt an off hand in many ways, but he's an intelligent, diligent young man who deserves an education of the same caliber as his rich peers. His only mistake was being born poor.

Over the course of his school year, Omar learns that fighting injustice is worth the potential heartache. It was certainly easier to go with the flow attempting to meet the requirements as best he could, but even if he could do it: what about the countless other boys who deserved to stay yet fell just shy of the goal? How can he live with himself if he makes it to the next year on the basis of such an unfair, flawed system that only demonstrates what he can do under unrealistic constraints and not his full potential? Under this system, is he really even smart, or is he merely lucky? After all, lack of adequate sleep and mental breaks affect everyone differently; if Omar happens to be affected less, that's not something he can control.

My only major complaint is that the majority of the book sets up the

Spoiler

headmaster

to be this big villain upholding the system out of the evil of their heart when this person was actually opposed the whole time. It was a twist that I didn't see coming, however, it was much too late in the story as this revelation now meant pivoting to an unseen board who votes on the decision as the villain instead. It was very anti-climactic as the board was an idea to rally against vs this person being a tangible being. I found the ending less satisfying as a result.

I think the pacing would have been better if the revelation happened about halfway l leaving the last half to focus on approaching the new big bad ie the board.

Also, the vote to decide if the rules on the poorer boys should be abolished is held off- page, and we're delivered the answer about their choices afterward. I would have enjoyed an actual meeting for the boys to make their final stand. It would have felt more emotionally fulfilling.

A minor complaint is that this book also does the rehabilitation of the bully plot - a rising pet peeve of mine. I miss one dimensional bullies we were free to mindlessly hate. I grow weary of pushing the idea to kids that they should be bottomless pools of empathy for kids who wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire.

There's a way to have empathy without setting yourself on fire, but every book (and this is how ubiquitous it is, I feel comfortable saying every book) that does it makes the two become friends or have a changed understanding where the main character just isn't bothered any more about what is still obviously awful behavior. Like what happened to 'that guy is a total jerk' point blank period?

And it's a fantasy ultimately because it's a trope that preaches to the choir: it's telling victims of bullies to have more compassion because 9 out of 10 bullies see nothing wrong with what they're doing and/or do not make the connection between their actions and the bullies in books. The whole narrative is lost on those kids either way, so why not let a bully get their comeuppance for once?

I feel I got more out of Omar Rising than I gave, which is the most important part of reading (to me). I will continue to read Aisha Saeed's works. She writes very solid, accessible middle grade from a perspective that westernized kids need to be exposed to more of. I'd read another book by her in a heartbeat.