Middle Grade Novel in Verse

Aarzu All Around
By Marzieh Abbas
Publisher: Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication date: July 29, 2025
Print length: 384 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1665970419
Reading age: 8 - 12 years
Grade level: 3 - 7

 

 Publisher’s Blurb:

Living with her aunt and patriarchal uncle in Karachi, Pakistan, recently orphaned twelve-year-old Aarzu detests the way she and her younger sister get treated like extras and excluded from all the fun stuff. Aarzu dreams of playing cricket, just like her male cousins and the neighborhood boys in the streets, but her uncle will hear nothing of it. According to him, girls ought to master the art of making round rotis, not play sports.

When her sister requires urgent medical treatment but finances are tight, Aarzu decides to earn money herself. She hears of a part-time job at a bungalow near her school—but it’s only open to boys. Aarzu has no choice but to disguise herself as a turban-wearing boy to get the gig.

Now, Aarzu must find a way to balance school, work, chores, and secret cricket practices—all without burning out or getting caught by her uncle—or else her dreams of making the girls cricket team and her quest to save her sister will crumble around her.

 

My Thoughts:

Thiswas a difficult book for me to read, for two vastly different reasons.

 

1.     It’s a novel in verse. While I love reading poetry, I find that verse novels don’t really work for me. Poetry is about packing a great deal of meaning into a few carefully chosen words. In narratives, I feel that many times depth of description and emotion can suffer when told in verse.

2.     Aarzu is in just such a sad situation. Her parents were killed in an earthquake, and she lives with her mother’s sister and her husband and sons. The uncle is very patriarchal and has strong ideas about the roles of girls and women. The older son is a bit of a bully. And Aarzu’s sister suffers from a debilitating and potentially fatal kidney disease. They live in near poverty; the uncle’s income comes from taking tourists around in his rickshaw, and the aunt sells items she has embroidered.

 That said, don’t think I didn’t like this story. Aarzu is resilient, and devoted to her sister. Her indomitable spirit shines out in this story.

 Like so many middle-grade novels, there is a subplot of a friendship nearly broken by jealousy, but Aarzu comes to realize her faults and the friendship survives.

 The book also features an explanation of how the game of cricket works, a glossary of Arabic/Pakistani terms, and—best of all to my English teacher heart—a list of the various forms of poetry used to tell the story.

 Possible objectionable material:

Loss of parents, misogyny, domestic abuse (not shown). Aarzu does some serious sneaking around. Chronic illness.

 Who would like this book:

If you like stories of courageous young people who find a way to rise above their difficulties, this would be a good one for you. And if you like or are interested in cricket, give it a shot.

 Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

 #BookReview #NetGalley #MiddleGrade #NovelInVerse #MarziehAbbas #AarzuAllAround #SimonAndSchuster #biblioquacious