Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab by Priya Huq

28 reviews

knockoffrainbow's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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sallytiffany's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

4.0

I really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations! It’s absolutely stunning. The story is really well written and the characters engaging. The pictures were hard to follow sometimes though, and I often got confused on who was who.

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

5.0

A beautifully illustrated story. Nisrin works to overcome trauma, seeks to find connections to her family's culture, faces racism, builds friendship, & showcases her excellent anime taste. I loved this, & the references were a treat. There's also an illustrated recipe at the end, & I love those! Warnings for racism, hate crime, references to rape, panic attacks, & remembering living in war/political upheaval.

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ashylibrarian's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This is a powerful book.

Within the first handful of pages, Nisrin becomes the victim of a horrific hate crime. Nisrin is attacked while she and her friend walk home from their school's World Cultures Day presentations. There are not many words exchanged during this scene, but the illustrations give power to all that is not said. After this attack, Nisrin spends her summer isolated in her home, fearful of leaving its safety.

After visiting family before school started for the year, Nisrin decides that she is going to wear hijab and learn more about Islam. This initially outrages her grandfather and worries her mother and grandmother. Initially, her family does not tell Nisrin why her wearing hijab upsets them, and this leads to her feeling as though her voice is not being heard. Self-educating and asking questions, Nisrin becomes more and more confident in the person she is building herself up to be. As her family sees this, they start to tell her more about her family's history, including why they left Bangladesh.

Partnered with beautiful watercolor-style illustrations that bring so much to the words that are written as well as those that are not, this story is one that needs to be shared with young readers. Though this book can be extremely heavy during certain scenes, it brings light to discussions around identity exploration, familial history, and becoming happy in your own skin. Huq has crafted a beautiful story that will touch the lives of many readers in the future.

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tabby2920's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Such a beautiful and emotional graphic novel! Really captures how a teen tries to find their identity and place but on their own terms. And I love the artwork! The use of watercolor illustration really made the story come to life!

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rory1387's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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delz's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Nisrin is a middle schooler when she is attacked for wearing a head scarf. It’s a challenge getting back her life, but when high school begins she goes. She struggles at first to find her place, but it does get easier. The incident though has brought up terrible memories for Nisrin’s family who emigrated from Bangladesh to start a new life. The head scarf plays a role throughout the story. The story was very good, but the art was a little hard to follow. Sometimes it was too dark or didn’t really go with what was written. I would still highly recommend though.

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