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A review by bookishblond
Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
4.0
Does My Head Look Big in This? is a fairly typical (but still solid!) YA book about sixteen-year-old Amal and her decision to wear hijab as a "full-timer."
This book came out in 2005, and I think a lot of the hype around the book is the fact that it was one of the first YA books about a "normal teenager" who is also a Muslim. This book reminded me so much of Jacqueline Wilson's "The Girls" series: melodrama, boys, dieting, parents, mean girls, etc. All the melodrama can be irritating, but it's a hallmark of YA lit. Teenagers are melodramatic. Here, the book is about the second semester/term of the school year after Amal decides to start wearing hijab full-time - at school, at the mall, basically anywhere where she would encounter men who were not family members. When Amal shows up on the first day of the term wearing a veil with her prep school uniform, basically everyone in her life becomes OBSESSED with her choice. From the other reviews that I've read, it seems like this is what annoys people about the book: the criticism is that the attitude of everyone in Amal's life is just not realistic. But after reading the book, I'm not so sure that Abdel-Fattah intended the book to be realistic. I really got the impression that this book was written for white readers - to give them a new, post-9/11 perspective. A lot of terms and references (especially related to Islam and Pakistani culture) are defined and/or explained for the benefit of white readers who may not be familiar with the terms. Furthermore, in order to make Amal relatable and "normal," Abdel-Fattah's writing is heavy on pop culture - Amal watches Friends, takes Cosmo quizzes, goes to the mall, gossips with her (white and Asian) friends about boys and diets, and eats a lot of pizza. It was almost over the top: Abdel-Fattah repeatedly tells us what Amal is watching on TV, etc. But again, at the time, there weren't many (if any) mainstream YA books about Muslim girls who wear hijab, so I get that Abdel-Fattah was trying to normalize her character by showing the reader, over and over again, that she is just a regular Australian.
As an adult reader, I wasn't overly engaged in the story. The drama is mostly about Amal's hijab, with some other typical YA themes thrown in, like crushes on boys. But I do appreciate this book for what it is. Readers will learn a lot of basic things about Islam, what a hijab is, why some Muslim women decide to wear the veil, fasting during Ramadan, and the differences and similarities between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for middle school girls. Maybe even for high school girls, although I think the tone of the writing is better suited for younger readers. I would have been in middle school when this book came out, and I really wish I had read it at that time. Looking back, I can't think of having read a single book with Muslim characters until I was much older, which is such a shame. I love that YA and children's lit has become so diverse in the fifteen years since this book was published. It's so important for kids to grow up reading about the experiences of people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, and I'm very happy that there are so many fantastic books out there, like this one.
This book came out in 2005, and I think a lot of the hype around the book is the fact that it was one of the first YA books about a "normal teenager" who is also a Muslim. This book reminded me so much of Jacqueline Wilson's "The Girls" series: melodrama, boys, dieting, parents, mean girls, etc. All the melodrama can be irritating, but it's a hallmark of YA lit. Teenagers are melodramatic. Here, the book is about the second semester/term of the school year after Amal decides to start wearing hijab full-time - at school, at the mall, basically anywhere where she would encounter men who were not family members. When Amal shows up on the first day of the term wearing a veil with her prep school uniform, basically everyone in her life becomes OBSESSED with her choice. From the other reviews that I've read, it seems like this is what annoys people about the book: the criticism is that the attitude of everyone in Amal's life is just not realistic. But after reading the book, I'm not so sure that Abdel-Fattah intended the book to be realistic. I really got the impression that this book was written for white readers - to give them a new, post-9/11 perspective. A lot of terms and references (especially related to Islam and Pakistani culture) are defined and/or explained for the benefit of white readers who may not be familiar with the terms. Furthermore, in order to make Amal relatable and "normal," Abdel-Fattah's writing is heavy on pop culture - Amal watches Friends, takes Cosmo quizzes, goes to the mall, gossips with her (white and Asian) friends about boys and diets, and eats a lot of pizza. It was almost over the top: Abdel-Fattah repeatedly tells us what Amal is watching on TV, etc. But again, at the time, there weren't many (if any) mainstream YA books about Muslim girls who wear hijab, so I get that Abdel-Fattah was trying to normalize her character by showing the reader, over and over again, that she is just a regular Australian.
As an adult reader, I wasn't overly engaged in the story. The drama is mostly about Amal's hijab, with some other typical YA themes thrown in, like crushes on boys. But I do appreciate this book for what it is. Readers will learn a lot of basic things about Islam, what a hijab is, why some Muslim women decide to wear the veil, fasting during Ramadan, and the differences and similarities between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for middle school girls. Maybe even for high school girls, although I think the tone of the writing is better suited for younger readers. I would have been in middle school when this book came out, and I really wish I had read it at that time. Looking back, I can't think of having read a single book with Muslim characters until I was much older, which is such a shame. I love that YA and children's lit has become so diverse in the fifteen years since this book was published. It's so important for kids to grow up reading about the experiences of people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, and I'm very happy that there are so many fantastic books out there, like this one.