Well, that was fast!

Misfit in Love

By S.K. Ali

Publisher : Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (May 25, 2021)

Language : English

Hardcover : 320 pages

ISBN-10 : 1534442758

ISBN-13 : 978-1534442757

Reading age : 14 years and up

Grade level : 9 - 12

Publisher’s Blurb:

Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer.

And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too.

Sweet, constant Nuah.

The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah.

It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding.
But it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna.

And Nuah’s treating her differently.

Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers—the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth—have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants.

Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable.

 
My Thoughts:
I recently reviewed the first book, Saints and Misfits, here: http://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2021/03/realistic-ownvoices-for-elementary-and.html . At the time, I said I couldn’t wait to read the sequel.
 
You can just imagine how excited I was to see that it was available for review—and then to get an ARC of it!
 
This book begins about two years after the previous one. Janna has graduated from high school and is preparing for college. She’s had therapy and has mostly healed from being assaulted. This time, we cover only a few days, the preparation and execution of Muhammed and Sarah’s wedding. Honestly, some of these days feel like way too much happens for them to be single days.
 
Janna is finally ready to accept Nuah’s interest, even as she meets a couple of other boys who are quite interesting! I don’t want to spoil things for you, but this definitely does not go the way I thought it would. Not that that’s a bad thing!
 
We get to see more of Janna’s relationship with her parents. For the positive, she realizes that her mother is ready for a new relationship, and comes to terms with that. For the negative, she realizes that her father is rather racist. It’s in how Janna deals with these things that she—and we—grow.
 
As with the first book, Ali does a wonderful job of introducing us to Muslim culture as…just a way people live. As with any religion, people are more and less devout, and more and less good as examples of their faith.
 
Janna is still a delightfully complicated character. She is filled with self-doubt, jumps to conclusions, has trouble trusting, and loves fiercely.
 
After two books, I have fallen in love with so many of the characters, and I really, really, hope there will be another book in the series. Ali leaves us at a place where there certainly could be. So please, everyone, buy this book so the publisher will go forward with another!
 
Who might like this book:
As before, those who like to learn about other cultures, those who like coming of age, those who like stories about family and complex relationships.
 
Possible objectionable material:
Racism, though not with any outrageous behavior or outright slurs. The characters are devout Muslims, so boys and girls are never alone together, although a couple of boys appear shirtless once or twice. Periods are mentioned, as is a possible extramarital affair, and a fatal car accident that kills a child.
 
I received this book for free from the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Realistic OwnVoices for elementary and middle-schoolers

These books are great entries in the “OwnVoices” category of books about regular kids with non-European backgrounds—in this case, Muslim girls living in the United States. These are everyday, ordinary kids, leading everyday ordinary lives, but their experiences give some insight to non-Muslim readers about what the lives of Muslim teens are like. Just as with teens of other religions, the characters’ faith is a part of their life. They question their relationship with their faith, try to be examples of their faith, etc.
 

Saints and Misfits
By S.K. Ali
Publisher : Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (June 12, 2018)
Paperback : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1481499254
ISBN-13 : 978-1481499255
Reading age : 14 years and up
Lexile measure : HL710L
Grade level : 9 - 12
 
Publisher’s Blurb:
There are three kinds of people in my world:
1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. They’re in your face so much, you can’t see them, like how you can’t see your nose.
2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family or in the leftover one composed of Mom and my older brother, Mama’s-Boy-Muhammad.
Also, there’s Jeremy and me. Misfits. Because although, alliteratively speaking, Janna and Jeremy sound good together, we don’t go together. Same planet, different worlds.
But sometimes worlds collide and beautiful things happen, right?
3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories.
Like the monster at my mosque.
People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask.
Except me.
 
My Thoughts:
I sped through this book in an evening. The characters were engaging and imperfect, and real. Janna is a high school sophomore, dealing with being in a gifted program, having a crush (on a non-Muslim boy!), bullying, her parents’ divorce and father’s remarriage…and being a victim of sexual assault.
 
Of course, the boy who assaulted her is much admired at the mosque where Janna’s uncle is imam. That’s why she’s afraid to tell everyone what happened, even though she lives in fear every time the boy is near, or even looks at her. Eventually, though, she finds the courage to speak out.
 
Janna’s friends and acquaintances play a part, and I love that their motives aren’t always pure, and that they sometimes disappoint her, because that’s what life is really like. Her mother and brother don’t always understand her, and it seems like they often treat her as if she can’t understand adult issues, which frustrates her.
 
I’m looking forward to the forthcoming sequel, Misfits in Love.
 
Who Might Like This Book:
People who like coming-of-age stories. People who want to learn more about cultures other than white-bread American.
 
Possible Objectionable Material:
Some sneaking around. Teenage drinking. Bullying. Sexual assault, briefly and non-graphically described. I would totally let my rather naïve 13-year-old read it.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
 

Amina’s Voice
By Hena Khan
Publisher : Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; Reprint edition (May 1, 2018)
Paperback : 208 pages
ISBN-10 : 1481492071
ISBN-13 : 978-1481492072
Reading age : 8 - 12 years
Lexile measure : 800L
Grade level : 3 - 7
 
Publisher’s Blurb:
A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community in this “compassionate, timely novel” (Booklist, starred review) from the award-winning author of It’s Ramadan, Curious George and Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns.
Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she’s in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the “cool” girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more “American.” Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized.
Amina’s Voice brings to life the joys and challenges of a young Pakistani-American and highlights the many ways in which one girl’s voice can help bring a diverse community together to love and support each other.
 
My Thoughts:
This book aimed at late-elementary to middle school age is a nice look at the changes that kids go through as they make the transition into middle school. So many times this is an opportunity for kids to reinvent themselves, a theme in this book.
 
Amina enjoys being best friends with another immigrant girl, and when her friend tries to become more Americanized, Amina is left questioning whether she should do the same. She loves her heritage, and is worried that others might expect her to hide it.
 
There is a typical middle-school plot of changes in friend groups, and wondering whether there will be room for her as her bestie enlarges their friend circle. I say this is a typical plot, and it is, but not that it is a bad thing. It’s important for middle school girls, because they mature at such different rates. Mine is a late bloomer, and I see her feeling left behind as her friends’ interests change.
 
There is also a subplot of a visiting, rather disapproving uncle from Pakistan, and how Amina learns not to be afraid of him.
 
Predictably, Amina does gain confidence as the story progresses, and finds her voice.
 
Who might like this book:
Those who want to learn more about cultures other than their own. Those who like coming of age.
 
Possible objectionable material:
Vandalism. Friendship drama.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
 

Amina’s Song
By Hena Khan
Publisher : Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (March 9, 2021)
Hardcover : 288 pages
ISBN-10 : 153445988X
ISBN-13 : 978-1534459885
Reading age : 8 - 12 years
Grade level : 3 - 7
 
Publisher’s Blurb:
It’s the last few days of her vacation in Pakistan, and Amina has loved every minute of it. The food, the shops, the time she’s spent with her family—all of it holds a special place in Amina’s heart. Now that the school year is starting again, she’s sad to leave, but also excited to share the wonders of Pakistan with her friends back in Greendale.
After she’s home, though, her friends don’t seem overly interested in her trip. And when she decides to do a presentation on Pakistani hero Malala Yousafzai, her classmates focus on the worst parts of the story. How can Amina share the beauty of Pakistan when no one wants to listen?
 
My Thoughts:
Amina’s story continues, first as she visits her uncle in Pakistan. The descriptions of her visit there are vivid and make me want to see the sights for myself.
 
It’s on Amina’s return home and going back to school that the story really picks up. She continues to deal with some of the issues of the first book, as she and her friends continue to grow and change in their interests.
 
I really like that Amina’s friendship with a boy is just that—a friendship, not a romance. I really hate the pressure on kids to find a “boyfriend” or “girlfriend” so young, and this book resists the urge to pair kids off.
 
Amina’s development in the first book has not magically solved all her problems (yay!), and she continues to struggle at times with the spotlight and with learning to express herself.
 
Again, Khan gives us a window into a culture that may not be familiar to all of us. That is the beauty of books—they allow us the opportunity to experience new cultures and new ideas, and, in the end, become more empathetic and more understanding.
 
Who might like this book:
Those who want to learn more about cultures other than their own. Those who like coming of age.
 
Possible objectionable material:
Friendship drama.
 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
 

Fantasy Duology in a Magical Land

We Hunt the Flame
By Hafsah Faizal
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (May 14, 2019)
Hardcover : 480 pages
ISBN-10 : 0374311544
ISBN-13 : 978-0374311544
Reading age : 14 - 18 years
Lexile measure : HL740L
Grade level : 10 - 12
 
Publisher’s Blurb:
People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya―but neither wants to be.
War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds―and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.
 

We Free the Stars
By Hafsah Faizal
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (January 19, 2021)
Hardcover : 592 pages
ISBN-10 : 0374311579
ISBN-13 : 978-0374311575
Reading age : 14 - 18 years
Grade level : 10 - 12
 
Publisher’s Blurb (Spoilers for We Hunt the Flame):
Darkness surged in his veins. Power bled from her bones.
The battle on Sharr is over. The Arz has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan Altair set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, finally bringing magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return.
As the zumra plots to overthrow Arawiya’s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power, to wield it against not only the Lion but his father as well, trapped under the Lion’s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat―it hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dares not unleash. In spite of everything, Zafira and Nasir find themselves falling into a love they can’t stand to lose . . . But time is running out, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.
 
My Thoughts:
It’s always refreshing to find a fantasy universe that is not based in Anglo-European culture. The Arabic roots of this duology are clear and interesting, and include vocabulary and mythological creatures. We have Sarasins, hashashins, ifrits, and other creatures from the desert.
 
Many of the classic YA fantasy tropes are there—Chosen One, self-doubt, misunderstandings, loss, younger siblings who surprise the protagonist with their self-reliance and ability. (Zafira, her sister Lana, and their mother bear strong resemblance to Katniss, Prim, and their mother in The Hunger Games.) No love triangle though, which is refreshing!
 
There is love, however, in many forms. Love of country, love of community, love of family, and friends. And yes, romantic love as well. Some characters lose people they love deeply. All of this in the quest to restore magic to Arawiya.
 
These are long books, and complex. Although the lexile is accessible and listed as “high-interest, low-lexile”, getting through this duology is definitely a commitment.
 
The first book definitely left me with questions; most of them were answered satisfactorily in the second.
 
While parts of the resolution were bittersweet, the overall closure is satisfying. I will read these again some day.
 
Who might like these books:
Fantasy fans, people who want to experience a taste of Arabic culture (albeit in a fantasy world). There are strong men and women alike. Our main characters are definitely flawed individuals, but they learn, grow, and change.
 
Possible objectionable material:
There are battles, death, and blood. Indications of unmarried sexual activity.
 
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, for the eARC of We Free the Stars in exchange for my honest review.