Tag: islamophobia

This Book Won’t Burn by Samira Ahmed

This Book Won’t Burn
by Samira Ahmed
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Hachette Book Group

★ “[Ahmed] employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect.” –Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe. 

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves.

Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.

But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall?

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Hope Ablaze: A Novel by Sarah Mughal Rana

Hope Ablaze: A Novel
by Sarah Mughal Rana
Wednesday Books/Macmillan

All My Rage meets The Poet X in this electric debut that combines powerful prose and verse to explore a Muslim teen finding her voice in a post-9/11 America.Nida has always been known as Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh’s niece – the poet that will fill her uncle’s shoes after he was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But for Nida, her poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option.

When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.

Told through alternating prose and verse sections, and with a touch of magic, Sarah Mughal Rana’s Hope Ablaze is gripping, heartbreaking, often funny, and ultimately uplifting. In her unforgettable exploration of poetry, society, and self, Rana not only celebrates the Islamic faith and Pakistani culture, but simultaneously confronts racism and Islamophobia with unflinching bravery.

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Posted in Books, Reviews

Review: Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan

Posted on by Nada Abdelrahim

Khan, Sabina. Zara Hossain is Here. Scholastic Inc. Apr. 2021. 256p. Tr. $19.95. ISBN 9781773214900. Grades 7-12.

Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan tells the story of Zara, a queer Muslim Pakistani high schooler as she navigates family, love, and racism in Corpus Christi, Texas. Having been in the United States since she was three years old, Zara and her family are comfortable and integrated in their community. However, their lack of green card status keeps her from feeling truly secure. And when Zara speaks out against racism and harassment at the hands of a classmate Tyler, she must deal with the fallout, which quickly escalates to violence against her family. 

Themes and issues explored in the book are important to the overall YA canon, specifically in relation to complex and diverse Muslim representation and all of its intersections–violence against the Muslim community, queerness, inadequacies of the immigration system, and the plethora of other intersecting issues and identities– with varying levels of success. In terms of Muslim representation Zara’s  family practices Islam “culturally,” as examples, not fasting during Ramadan nor observing the five daily prayers. Zara’s parents are understanding and supportive of her bisexual identity and relationship. She experiences backlash from their Pakistani community and her girlfriend Chloe’s Christian family. Phrases in Urdu and Arabic and used throughout the book and the larger cast of characters is equally diverse.

Unfortunately the novel suffers in pacing events and clunky writing, with character development feeling stunted, and lacking emotion and feeling that fails to connect the reader to Zara’s story. Zara’s shifting of thoughts on life impacting decisions, such as moving back to Pakistan, feels flat and not overly contemplative. Zara’s relationship with Chloe feels abrupt in its beginnings and the quick intensity of their feelings comes across as inauthentic. These intense events occur within the first hundred pages, are dragged out in the remainder of the novel, and are too neatly resolved to be believable. Overall a disappointing read that checks the boxes without any real singular impact.

 

 

Fight Back by A.M. Dassu

Fight Back by A.M. Dassu
Lee & Low

Amina’s Voice meets A Good Kind of Trouble in this story about 13-year-old Aaliyah, who feels alone after putting on a hijab for the first time, but finds friends and allies through organizing a protest at her school.

Thirteen-year-old Aaliyah can’t wait for a concert by her favorite K-pop boy band, 3W. She isn’t too concerned with stories on the news about the rise of the far right–after all, it doesn’t affect her–until a terrorist attack at the concert changes everything.

Local racists are emboldened and anti-Muslim rhetoric starts cropping up at school and on the street. When Aaliyah starts getting bullied, she knows she has to do something to stand up to the hate. She decides that, instead of hiding who she is, she will begin wearing a hijab for the first time, to challenge how people in her community see Muslims.

But when her school bans the hijab and she is attacked and intimidated for making her choice, Aaliyah feels alone. Can she find allies–friends to stand beside her and help her find ways to fight back?

Acclaimed author A. M. Dassu’s follow-up to Boy, Everywhere is an essential read to encourage empathy, challenge stereotypes, and foster positive action.

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
Margaret K. McElderry / Simon & Schuster

Percy Jackson meets Tristan Strong in this hilarious, action-packed middle grade contemporary fantasy that follows a young boy as he journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm.

Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open.

The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.

And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Review with character’s Islamic identity mentioned, via Kirkus

“Twelve-year-old Zack is recruited into helping the spirit hosts of ancient Chinese emperors in a dangerous mission. Zack has always struggled with a sense of belonging. He is the only Asian kid in his mostly White town in Maine, and, as a Hui Muslim, he is also a minority among other Chinese and Muslims. His dissident father was executed by the Chinese government, and he faces Islamophobia in the U.S. Zack has made friends through playing Mythrealm, an augmented reality game that uses a wearable portal-lens that spawns mythical creatures from folktales and legends from around the world. When a real demon threatens Zack and his mom is attacked, ending up in a coma, he discovers a connection to the spirit of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, that gives him magical powers. Together with the spirit hosts of two other former emperors, Zack travels to China in an attempt to save his mother’s life and prevent an otherworldly disaster. This science-fiction/fantasy mashup incorporates Chinese history and mythology into relentless action. Thrilling battles and chase and heist scenes are balanced with a droll sense of humor and quieter moments that explore Zack’s complex relationship with his cultural identity, including criticism of Chinese government policies that oppress Muslims. Levels up legendary Chinese heroes and folklore into a thrilling adventure with video game appeal. (Fantasy. 9-13)”

 

Go Back to Where You Came From : And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American by Wajahat Ali

Go Back to Where You Came From:
And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American
by Wajahat Ali
W.W. Norton

“Go back to where you came from, you terrorist!”

This is just one of the many warm, lovely, and helpful tips that Wajahat Ali and other children of immigrants receive on a daily basis. Go back where, exactly? Fremont, California, where he grew up, but is now an unaffordable place to live? Or Pakistan, the country his parents left behind a half-century ago?

Growing up living the suburban American dream, young Wajahat devoured comic books (devoid of brown superheroes) and fielded well-intentioned advice from uncles and aunties. (“Become a doctor!”) He had turmeric stains under his fingernails, was accident-prone, suffered from OCD, and wore Husky pants, but he was as American as his neighbors, with roots all over the world. Then, while Ali was studying at University of California, Berkeley, 9/11 happened. Muslims replaced communists as America’s enemy #1, and he became an accidental spokesman and ambassador of all ordinary, unthreatening things Muslim-y.

Now a middle-aged dad, Ali has become one of the foremost and funniest public intellectuals in America. In Go Back to Where You Came From, he tackles the dangers of Islamophobia, white supremacy, and chocolate hummus, peppering personal stories with astute insights into national security, immigration, and pop culture. In this refreshingly bold, hopeful, and uproarious memoir, Ali offers indispensable lessons for cultivating a more compassionate, inclusive, and delicious America.

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
Inkyard Press / HarperCollins

Dear White People meets Love, Hate, and Other Filters in this powerful, thought-provoking own-voices debut novel about three Black Muslim girls who create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths the country doesn’t see.

In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.

Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.

Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Salaam, with Love by Sara Sharaf Beg

Salaam, with Love by Sara Sharaf Beg
Underlined / Penguin Random House

Being crammed into a house in Queens with her cousins is not how Dua envisions her trip to New York City. But here she is, spending the holy month of Ramadan with extended family she hasn’t seen in years.

Dua struggles to find her place in the conservative household and to connect with her aloof, engaged-to-be-married cousin, Mahnoor. And as if fasting the whole day wasn’t tiring enough, she must battle her hormones whenever she sees Hassan, the cute drummer in a Muslim band who has a habit of showing up at her most awkward moments.

After just a month, Dua is surprised to find that she’s learning a lot more than she bargained for about her faith, relationships, her place in the world—and cute drummers….

Cover image and summary via Edelweiss

Posted in Books, Reviews

Review: Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq

Posted on by hijabilibrarians

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab (Ebook) | ABRAMSThis review was originally published in School Library Journal.

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab
by Priya Huq
Abrams. Nov. 2021. 224p. Tr $22.99. ISBN 9781419740169.

Gr 7 Up—In Portland, OR, in 2002, eighth grader Nisrin Moniruzzaman is proud to share her Bangladeshi heritage and cultural dress with her school community during a celebration of world cultures. But on her way home from school with a friend who is Black and Iranian, the girls suffer a violent racist attack, and Nisrin’s orna, a shawl-like scarf, is ripped from her head. In the following months, both girls struggle to heal. After visiting the home of a young cousin who wears a hijab, Nisrin decides to start wearing the headscarf as she begins high school. Her choice challenges her mother and her maternal grandparents, with whom she lives, and makes her a target for Islamophobia at school; it also serves as a catalyst for her to learn more about Islam and her family’s feelings about the religion, their experiences in Bangladesh, and the country’s tumultuous history, including Bangladesh’s relationship with Pakistan (although readers will need to look elsewhere for a nuanced account of conflict in the region). Vivid illustrations capture the characters’ raw feelings and move the narrative along quickly, making it feel slightly rushed at times. “A Guide to Bangladesh” written from the perspective of Nisrin at the end of the novel includes a map of the region and provides additional insight about the country, its people, and the author’s family.

VERDICT A solid addition to collections of all types and a welcome exploration of what it means to navigate the complexities of Muslim identity in the United States.

Reviewed by Mahasin A. Aleem, Oakland Public Library, CA

Posted in Books, Reviews

Review: Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero

Posted on by Mahasin Abuwi Aleem

This review was originally published in School Library Journal.

Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero
by Saadia Faruqi
HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Sept. 2021. 368p. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780062943255.

 Gr 5 Up–Twenty years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 11-year-old sixth grader and robotics enthusiast Yusuf Azeem lives with his Pakistani American family in a small Texas town. His father is an immigrant businessman-turned-hometown-hero, his Texas-born mother is a freelance journalist, and he has a doting three-year-old younger sister. The close-knit Muslim community in the town, including the Azeems, attend local activities such as youth football games and parades alongside their non-Muslim neighbors, partially in an effort to fit in. However, changes are afoot in their town: hateful graffiti is sprawled on buildings; a white nationalist group takes root and challenges the Muslim community’s long-standing plans to build a mosque; and school bullying of Muslim students, including Yusuf, occurs daily. These events make it clear to the Muslims of Frey, TX, that they may never be truly embraced for who they are, throwing into question the personal and communal sacrifices that they have made, and forcing Yusuf to forge his own path in the pursuit of justice. Relatable and multidimensional characters of various ages and backgrounds are portrayed with nuance and empathy. Journal entries written by Yusuf’s Uncle Rahman from his own childhood at the time of the attacks offer additional insight into the impact of 9/11. The young characters’ struggles to balance personal commitments to their faith with parental expectations and their own desires will resonate with readers of many backgrounds. An author’s note explains that the story was inspired by the experiences of Ahmed Mohamed, nicknamed “The Clock Boy,” a Muslim Texan school boy who was wrongly accused of bringing a bomb to school.
VERDICT Gripping, well-paced, and poignant, this is an essential purchase for all libraries and a must-read book of our times that raises important questions about who controls historical narratives, what it means to stand up for justice, and the legacy of an event that cannot be forgotten.
Reviewed by Mahasin A. Aleem, Oakland P.L., CA , Sep 10, 2021