Amil and the After by Veera Hiranandani

Amil And The After is the sequel to The Night Diary, which chronicles the experiences of a fictional Hindu family during the Partition.

Twelve-year-old twins Amil and Nisha, their father, Dadi their grandmother and Kazi the family's Muslim servant, are now living in Bombay, India. It is  January 1st, 1948. Last year, India's Prime Minister Nehru had announced that at midnight on August 14th, India would become independent from British rule and be partitioned into two countries, India and Pakistan. When this happened, India was to be for Hindus, Sikhs and non-Muslims, while Pakistan would be the home for Muslims. As a result, Amil's family had to flee their home in Mirpur Khas which was now part of Pakistan as they are Sindh Hindu and travel to Jodhpur, India. The journey was treacherous with Amil almost losing his life. The Partition had resulted in people across India and Pakistan fighting and killing each other. After a short stay in Jodhpur, Amil's family moved to Bombay for Papa's new job at the hospital. He is covering for a doctor who may or may not return.  

Amil loves to draw but finds reading and school work difficult. The letters of the alphabet all look the same or flipped, making learning difficult for Amil. Nisha suggests that he draw for Mama, as a way of expressing his pent-up feelings. Amil decides to do this.

One Saturday on their way to visit Papa's cousin Ashok, they pass a refugee camp in the old military barracks. Amil recognizes the Sindh words being spoken in the camp. Six months ago, these people had been living normal lives in what was now Pakistan. Now they are living in terrible conditions and seeing the camp upsets Amil.

School continues to be a struggle for Amil, while his twin sister, Nisha, excels. Amil wishes for a friend, someone who isn't too competitive but who also has a sense of humour. He also wants a bicycle. Amil prays to his mother, asking her to make at least one of these wishes come true. Then at school, Amil encounters a boy during lunch break, as he's taking out his tiffin. Kazi has prepared Amil's lunch of rajma masala, roti, raita, and mango pickle. At first the boy refuses Amil's offer of food. He shows Amil a flip book he's made and this so intrigues Amil that he wants the boy to teach him how to make one. They strike a bargain where the boy will take half of Amil's lunch as payment for teaching him how to make a flip book. Eventually the boy reveals himself to be called Vishal and tells Amil he is from a royal family.

Amil and Nisha struggle to settle back into life, amidst continuing fallout from the Partition. Violence, an assassination and uncertainty seem to be everywhere. But when Amil and Nisha discover Vishal sleeping on the street, Amil is determined to help his new friend.

Discussion

Amil And The After is the story of one family's struggle to rebuild their lives after the Partition in 1947 India. Their traumatic and life-changing experiences leave them uncertain about the future and wondering why they survived when so many others did not. In this novel, set in 1948, their story is told from the perspective of twelve-year-old Amil. He almost died from dehydration as they crossed the desert in their journey from Mirpur Khas, Pakistan to Jodhpur, India.

The story begins on January 1, 1948, four months after the Partition, but it is not in the past. People are still fleeing over the border between Pakistan and India and communal rioting continues with attacks in Karachi and Delhi.

The events around the Partition have left Amil with many questions including why Muslims and Hindus are fighting one another. In Mirpur Khas, Amil's family, who are Sindh Hindus, went to the Sikh temple while some Hindus went to Sufi (Muslim) shrines. His papa tells him, "Our community had Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains all going about their business."  People were able to live peacefully, despite their differences. The Partition changes all of that.

Amil realizes that his experiences have changed him. Instead of focusing on how to have fun or get a treat, he has many complicated questions. He wonders why they survived, why they have a home and food and others do not. When he sees a young boy playing in the dirt in the refugee camp in Bombay, Amil recognizes that he could be that boy "If a few things had gone another way..." Was it luck that he hadn't died in the desert, that they have a safe place to live and food?

Eventually Amil discovers that his new friend, Vishal is living on the street. In Vishal, Amil sees "...a boy exactly like he was, just unlucky instead of lucky." When Amil offers to help him, Vishal seems indifferent because he believes he is worthless and that no one cares. While Amil believes the difference between him and Vishal is simply a matter of luck, Nisha believes they shouldn't waste that "luck" and should act to help Vishal. As a result they end up taking Vishal home, feeding him and helping him to clean up and get into clean clothes. This restores Vishal's belief in his own dignity. 

When Vishal doesn't return to school, Amil is not content to simply let things go. He and Kazi discover he is seriously ill in the refugee camp and learn that his real name is Vasim Qureshi, meaning he is likely a Muslim boy. Amil is now determined to help his friend, eventually getting him treated at the hospital where his father works. He doesn't care that Vasim is Muslim, only that he is his friend. But Amil also wants to ensure that Vasim remains safe and that he doesn't end up back in the refugee camp. His determination pushes his father to find a safe place for Vasim and ultimately leads to his family helping him. The message is that we don't have to do big things, sometimes it is just helping one person that makes a big difference.

Amil And The After encourages young readers to look beyond differences and see the humanity in those who are different. Sometimes all that separates us from being homeless or a refugee is luck and circumstances. This message is an important one for people in all countries. As the Partition continues to have repercussions in India even today, this message is needed more than ever. 

As mentioned in Hranandani's first book, The Night Diaries, the experiences of the characters in this novel are based on her own family's experiences. She reiterates this in The Author's Note at the back. Also included is a Glossary of terms used in the novel. 

Book Details

Amil And The After by Veera Hiranandani
New York: Kokila       2024
342 pp.

The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayless

Sixteen-year-old Amra Sabic lives in the city of Bihac, in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has recently declared its independence from Yugoslavia. It is 1992 and Amra is on the train from Belgrade, Serbia back home after writing a series of tests in mathematics and logic. Amra feels that her parents don't seem to understand what is happening in their country. They believe people are general good, that education will create a better world. After passing tests in her hometown, her parents have sent her to Belgrade, in the heart of Serbia to take the next and highest levels of tests.

Now on a train home to Bihac, Amra is terrified when Serbian nationalists, known as Cetniks enter the train. There is already war between the Serbs who want land and control and Croatians who want independence. Amra believes it is only a matter of time before Serbia attacks Bosnia. And Serbs hate Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslims. Their leader, Radovan Kavadzic has threatened to eradicate Bosnian Muslims if they leave Yugoslavia. The soldiers are sneering and shouting at anyone they think might be Muslim. Amra's only protection is that they think she is a young Serbian woman. That's because Muslims in Bosnia don't wear hijabs, speak Arabic or recite the Qu'ran. They are Muslims of ethnicity after years of communism and look like other Yugoslavians. So far Amra's city of Bihac has been peaceful with Muslims, Croats and Serbs living in harmony for generations. Thankfully, Amra arrives safely in Bihac and is met by Tata.

On her birthday Amra awakens to discover that a young Muslim soldier is staying at her home. Mama and Tata take in these soldiers and send them to safety. Muhamed is from Srebrenica. He tells Amra he never wanted to be a soldier, instead hoping to work in the spa famous for its healing waters. He was sent to a tiny Croatian town to massacre the people but after letting an old woman escape he hid until it was over. Upon learning the next day they were to be sent to another Croation town, he deserted. He met up with Amra's Tetak Ale and Tetka Fatma who saved him and sent him to Amra's home. Muhamed tells Amra that the soldiers are saying the Muslims are next, once they get to Bosnia.

On her birthday Amra can't help but think this might "be the last day with any shred of real happiness. War is creeping closer every day. Hate is spreading...." Amra and Tata set out to pick up her birthday cake from her cousin, Zuhra and pick up a late-night ticket for Muhamed. Although it's a lovely day, when they come to the Blue Bridge which crosses the river Una, Amra realizes that things are not normal. People on the bridge have fear in their faces. At the Paviljon, many Bosniak refugees sit nearby, wearing extra clothing even though it is a warm day. Tata begins handing out money to them until he has none left. Soon Yugoslav National Army tanks are rolling through the streets of Bihac. The soldiers taunt and jeer at Amra but she continues walking, ignoring them. Suddenly Amra meets a pretty little calico cat whose "soft and quiet beauty" gives her something to focus on.

When Amra meets up again with Tata, he has Omer and Erza with him. As they walk home, the calico cat follows Amra. Although she doesn't want the cat, Tata suggests that maybe she too needs a family. Amra's mother welcomes Omer and Erza but refuses to have a "maci", the Bosnia word for cat, in the house. Nevertheless, Maci sticks around.

Amra's birthday party sees her friend Olivera who is Serbian and Nura and Ivona attend. After eating Zuhra's delicious cake, Olivera suddenly leaves, telling Amra she's not allowed to stay after dark, in case something happens. This puzzles Amra, and when the other girls are spooked by Maci at the window, they also leave.

The next day while waiting for Olivera, Amra learns that their capital city of Sarajevo is surrounded by Serb forces. Amra begins to wonder about Olivera, who is Serbian. That night when she attempts to call Olivera, she hangs up on her and then during a second attempt tells Amra never to call again. When Maci follows Amra and Dino on their way to school the next day, a young university student named Davor offers to watch the cat while Amra is in class. Amra immediately notices that half the class is absent- all the Serbian students. Teacher Zivko, a Serbian who is married to a Muslim, tells the class that the Muslims and Catholics who are left in the city will soon be under attack. The Serbian families were secretly told to evacuate, while the army waits outside the city. He tells them to go home.

As she's leaving school, Amra tells Davor that she needs to get her brother Dino. He agrees to help her, but when they get to the intersection, Amra realizes she's forgotten Maci. As they leave the intersection, a sniper begins shooting, wounding people. Amra and Davor get Dino and then they head towards their homes. At Amra and Dino's home, Tata and Mama are packing to go to Cousin Vesna's house to shelter in her basement.

For the first three days not much happens but then bombing begins on the fourth day. Tata believes the world will put a stop to the bombing. After the bombing, Amra and Dino escape outside to try to find Maci and discover their house is still intact. Dino escapes death from a bomb when he hears Maci in a nearby garage. The place he was standing was hit by a bomb, killing three of their friends. Maci saved Dino this time. When Amra tells Mama how Maci saved Dino, she agrees the cat can stay.

For two more weeks Amra and her family stay with Cousin Vesna. Tata goes out to check on the city and learns that the teacher in charge of records for Amra's grade has destroyed all the records of the Muslim students. He also tells Mama that her brother Ejub was killed in  bombing. With this, Mama decides they will go back to their home.

They find their house intact, but without electricity. However, Amra struggles, taking to lying in bed most of the day. But Maci and her new kittens are a sign of hope for Amra, reminding her that the world is a beautiful place. As Amra and her family struggle to stay alive as war batters Bihac, Maci is the one constant that helps the entire family deal with hunger, loss and fear.

Discussion

The Cat I Never Named presents young readers with a gritty, personal account of the Bosnian War from the perspective of a sixteen-year-old girl. The war, which began in 1992 and ended in 1995, was the result of the breakup of the communist state of Yugoslavia after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. At the end of World War II, Yugoslavia was a country comprised of six republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The country was ruled by dictator Josef Tito until his death in 1980. Ethnic tensions began to increase between Serbs and other groups in the region especially after Slobodan Milosevic came to power in Serbia in 1987.  In 1991, Slovenia and Croatia voted to secede from the country followed in 1992 by Bosnia and Herzegovina. The secession of Croatia, resulted in increased tensions between the Serbian population and the dominant Croats. With the declaration of independence by Croatia, the Serbian population went to war. This was the beginning of the conflict that eventually spilled over into Bosnia, a region inhabited by Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Croatians and Serbs who lived together in peace for decades. Although the secession of Bosnia/Herzegovina was recognized internationally, Bosnian Serbs were not so accommodating.

Amra Sabic was a teenager when war broke out. Her memoir vividly describes how it felt to be hated simply for belonging to a specific ethnic group. She struggles to understand how a best friend could suddenly come to hate her. "No, Olivera doesn't hate me. She's my best friend. She knows nothing about this conflict, no more than I did only two days ago. Bihac isn't Sarajevo. We are peaceful, full of brotherly love. We accept differences. No one here would hurt another person just because their ancestors came from one place or another." However, Olivera does not hold this view at all. In school she tells Amra that her father says "...all Serbs are afraid of Muslims..." When Amra confronts her friend, she has no explanation for why she might be afraid of someone like Amra.

Amra also finds herself also dealing with her own desire to hate the Serbs. When their Serbian neighbours home is being robbed by a Bosniak classmate, Amra believes they deserve to be robbed and to have nothing. But her father tells her "...Jovanka and her husband, they are just people. The Serbs, they are just people. Most of them are like us, just trying to be happy and get along. A few of them have been corrupted by hate, or greed, or...I don't know what. But inside we are all the same. Just because some of the Serbs have forgotten that, you shouldn't. Ever. One day this will be over. We'll all go back to being just people again. Make sure you haven't forgotten your humanity by then."

The war makes Amra think about human nature and our capacity to help or hurt one another. In her city under siege, Amra rethinks her opinion of her neighbour Jovanka, wondering if the woman was actually trying to help her. "What if tired old Jovanka tried to commit one herooic act in her life? Face with horror she couldn't fight, what if saving me was her attempt to make things not right but better? What if every Serb tried to do one small thing to fight the hate that has taken over our world now? What if everyone on the planet did?"

Amra also struggles to understand the abandonment of her friend Olivera. When Nura tells her that Olivera knew what was happening but simply kept quiet, Amra feels differently. "I feel betrayed by my best friend. But I also try to understand what she must have gone through, to be torn between her own beliefs and her parents' beliefs. To be told to think that Bosnians are dirty subhumans, and then see proof to the contrary in her best friend. Or did she come to believe it too?"

As the war continues on, Amra eventually makes a crucial decision after visiting the home of Damir, a boy a year ahead of her in school. Hoping to borrow his old math textbooks, she learns from his father that he has been killed by a missile. She begins to understand that maybe she can help build a better world.

The Cat I Never Named is a story about maintaining our humanity in the worst of times.  Amra and her family survived the war but it changed all of them forever. Amra has crafted a readable account, using the events and people she encountered during the war that effectively portray the horrors of war, the suffering of innocent civilians and the destruction of society and culture. It is also a story about a young girl determined to survive and make the world a better place by letting the world know the power of hatred to destroy everything good.  In her author's note, Amra states that she "wrote this book to illustrate how deeply damaging hatred is. Hatred is the most powerful emotion, more powerful than love. Love compels us to do selfless things....But hate can make people commit horrific violence, such as Serbs raping my relative in a rape camp. Only hate is that powerful..." 

Amra writes in her Acknowledgements, that she "...wanted to ensure my story transcended the moment and would remain a powerful lesson for generations to come. I wanted it to sensitize young adults to those who are other-ed and discriminated against. I wanted to bring the world together by changing youths' mind-sets."  Amra also explained the cover of the book and what it tries to achieve. "The blown-up mosque was inspired by a one destroyed in the village of Ahmici during a massacre against Bosniaks, Bosnian Muslims, on April 16, 1993. The goal was to counter a prevalent narrative that nearly two billion Muslims are a monolithic group of people. Instead, the book's jacket present my authentic self, a liberal Muslim teen , yet a Muslim who was still so profoundly hated. The jacket illustration serves as a reminder that the hate is a product of its perpetrators rather than a reflection of its victims. To those who spent years trying to kill me, it never mattered who I was. What mattered was how they saw me. There is nothing that victims can do to ameliorate that hate except to educate by telling our stories in hope of evoking collective empathy among those open to hearing our stories. The jacket also demonstrates a dichotomy between the love Maci and I felt for each other and destruction around us that the hatred produced."

The author also includes a map at the front to orient young readers, A Note From The Author, Resources for Further Reading and Movies About the Bosnian War.  The Cat I Never Named is an uplifting reminder that people have the choice to stand up against hate and instead to change the world for the better, one loving act at a time.

Book Details:

The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayless
New York: Bloomsbury Publishing   2020
368 pp.

Driving By Starlight by Anat Deracine

Driving By Starlight is Anat Deracine's debut novel about two Muslim teenage girls who live in Saudi Arabia and their struggle to balance their dreams and hopes with the restrictive society they live in while maintaining their friendships.

Leena Hadi lives with her mother Norah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Her father  is in jail for having protested against the government. Leena longs to make her own choices, to go to school and have a career. She has a reputation for breaking the rules and therefore has the nickname, "Leena Adhaleena which meant Leena who goes astray." Her best friend is Mishail, Quraysh whose father is minister of the interior in the Saudi government. Before her father was arrested, Leena and Mishail's fathers were good friends.

The two girls who are seniors at Nizamiyyah Secondary  are planning an act of defiance of Saudi Arabia's strict dress code for women when their class travels to a park. They don't want a class picture of three rows of girls in black abayas, with only their eyes showing. Instead they plan to take a picture of themselves wearing beautiful colourful dresses in the park. Since all women's cellphone cameras are smashed at the time of purchase, Mishail brings a pocket camera belonging to her brother.The seniors include Aisha, Bilquis, Mishail, Sofia and Leena. They wait for their supervising teacher to fall asleep and then race to the bathrooms to change into Western-style clothes. However, Bilquis decides to tell the headmistress what they are doing.

When they return to the school, Maryam Madam speaks to Aisha, Mishail, Sofia and Leena attempting to find out who is responsible. Getting nothing out of them, she talks to Leena alone who confesses to what happened. Before Leena's father's arrest, Maryam Madam had promised to take care of her.Now she allows her to make prints of the photos before destroying the digital files. Leena tells her that she is considering Princess Nora  University for law, but Maryam Madam tells her that this may be difficult due to her father's situation.

Because her father is absent, Leena must dress as a man to accompany her mother shopping - a practice known as boyat. They walk to the home of her father's law partner, Hossein so her mother can get some papers signed. While there they learn from the television that riots have closed the only co-ed university in the country. After a period of protests by Islamic fanatics, the government makes some concessions including the exclusion of women from KASP scholarships. Schools reopen and when Leena returns to her school she finds that there are new students from Najd National, a school that has been destroyed. Now in addition to new students, Leena's school will also have the headmistress from Najd, Naseema Madam.

Leena's relationship with Mishail begins to unravel with the presence of a new girl, Daria Abulkhair. Daria is half American and lives in one of the American ARAMCO campuses. She knows how to drive a car and unlike her classmates has experience: she's French-kissed a boy. Daria also knows how to meet boys at Faisaliyah, a mall in Riyadh, something Mishail is determined to experience. Leena is horrified as this is a serious crime under Saudi law. Mishail reveals that her father wants to marry her off by the end of the year, even though she's only fifteen. She wants to find her own boy, to have another option. Leena reluctantly agrees to go to Faisaliyah.

Leena is further upset by the presence of Daria when the new girl is chosen over Leena for the debate team. Daria was chosen over Leena because of the situation with Leena's father.This will have a huge impact on Leena's future because it now means she will have no chance of qualifying for a scholarship. To apply to another university requires the signed permission of her father, something Leena will not be able to obtain.

As Daria and Mishail's friendship grows, Leena finds herself on the outside, growing jealous. At a party at Daria's home, Leena meets Ahmed who is Daria's cousin. Only a few years older than Leena her reveals that he attended her father's shillahs. Mishail becomes jealous after seeing Leena speaking with Ahmed, telling her friend that she has been seeing Ahmed and believes he loves her. The two girls argue and Leena afraid for her friend and at the urging of Daria, informs the headmistresses about what Mishail has been doing. This fractures the two girls friendship and Leena realizes that they have been played against one another by Daria. Mishail is replaced on the debate team by Aisha and suspended for two weeks.

Meanwhile Leena begins seeing Ahmed and his rebel friends almost every night in the desert, dressed as a boy, learning to drive. She comes to realize that she is doing the very thing she reported Mishail for. Despite this she doesn't care. At this time, knowing that she must look out for herself, she begins reading law cases with her father's partner, working for him whenever she can. At school, Daria's cruelty towards Aisha who doesn't understand the law she must debate very well, leads Leena to realize that they must stop fighting against one another and start helping each other.

Leena decides to form her own shillah with Aisha to stop the fighting. They write a contract for the secret society that will included the outcasts and "required that girls who joined had to share a secret that they had told no one else and had to give evidence of it..." They also had to help others in the shillah, promising to never knowingly harm them. As a start, Leena begins helping Aisha for the debate.Soon many of their classmates are interested in joining.

When Leena gets into trouble with the muttaween for walking alone at night, the truth about her father's political activism is revealed. With the help of her mother and Maryam Madam, and Leena's own knowledge of the law, a way is found to not only help her gain her independence and a say in her life but also to save her best friend's life and help the other young women in her shillah who also face the same challenges.

Discussion

Driving By Starlight is a novel set in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  that explores the themes of friendship, family and freedom. The story is centered around the friendship between two girls, Leena and Mishail and their lives in a country with strict Islamic laws. Almost immediately readers get a sense of what life is like for girls and women in Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country whose laws and culture are centered on Sharia law. Every aspect of their lives is affected. Deracine peppers Leena's narrative with many descriptions of how restrictive her life is, demonstrating just how broken the country is.

Leena, is a brilliant student who wants to study law. However, her father's arrest has made this all but impossible because as a girl she requires the written permission of her father. The fact that she cannot make her own decisions without the permission of a man infuriates Leena. Throughout her narrative she notes the many restrictions and rules of Saudi life, as a result of Sharia law. For example, most people live attempting to not attract the attention of "the muttaween, the religious police from Al-Hai'a, the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice." who lurk everywhere, even on the roads. "Surveillance cameras were on every street corner, and muttaween in their vans pulled up alongside us to inspect the car's inhabitants..."

Women especially experience many restrictions that men do not. Leena notes that in order for her and her friends to take pictures they need to borrow a camera because their cell phones have no working cameras. This is because "all women's cell phone cameras were smashed at the time of purchase." Posting anything online is a dangerous affair due to Al-Hai'a who spy "on all phone and internet communications in the country. Not only did all our phones have apps that regularly pinged our guardians with our location, our fathers could always request the records to determine if there had been any inappropriate communications."

Contact between unrelated girls and boys is forbidden and the sexes are strictly segregated. "By law, the boys' school had to be at least five kilometers from ours to prevent the ever troublesome potential indecency." This segregation also exists in many homes. When Leena visits her friend and stays for dinner, the women eat separate from the men;  Mishail, her mother and Leena in the kitchen while Mishail's brothers and her father in the livingroom, "passing dishes through the barely open doorway." But Leena notes it wasn't always this way in the Quraysh family, only when Mishail's father become a minister.

Laws governing marriage strongly favour men, although Muslims are likely to view them as protecting women. Leena notes that while women must remain faithful men do not experience the same expectations. "When the law stated that a man could marry four women and have a few concubines besides through misyar marriages, a boy was not just well within his rights to love two girls, he was practically a saint for choosing only two."

Just how different a girl's life is from a boy is highlighted many times throughout the novel. Faraz, the son of Leena's father's law partner wonders why Leena, who is very smart, doesn't apply for university outside the country. But for a girl it's not so simple.  "So easy for men to just set out on their adventures, leave everyone else behind. Even if I could leave, even if every cell in my body ached for scholarships that I wouldn't get, what was I supposed to do, abandon Mishail and my mother? Give up on my father?" Leena cannot move about in public without a male guardian unless she practices boyat, dressing in a white thobe, pretending to be a boy. She is driven to her school every day by a man in a car. She cannot drive, not even to the hospital (although that was changed this summer). She needs the signature of her male guardian to apply for university. And as Leena bitterly notes, Quaraouine, a university founded by a woman, is now closed to her, allowing only men to study there.

Leena and her best friend Mishail find their friendship almost destroyed when they fall for the same boy and as they clash over rebelling against the strict rules of their culture. Leena attempts to warn her best friend but Mishail tells her, "I know it's dangerous...Everything we want is forbidden or dangerous. I just don't care." Soon Leena finds herself committing the same crimes but like Mishail, she doesn't care because she has no father to protect her and no future to save. She continues to meet Ahmed and his friends, partly because she loves driving in the dark as it gives her a sense of freedom that she longs for, "...nobody watching to tell us about the laws we were breaking." 

Deracine's heroine, is a strong, intelligent young woman who is not content to live her life dictated by men. Leena begins to take control of her life by studying with her father's law partner in the hopes that she can one day attend university. After seeing Daria being especially cruel to Aisha, Leena decides women must work together to help one another. "We were all fighting one another for a window out of hell. Me against my sisters. It had to stop." She cites the example of Manal Al-Sharif who organized a Facebook protest, asking women to drive in protest of the law forbidding women this right. Although half a million people watched the video, only a few dozen came out to support her. "Even other women called her a pot-stirrer, a troublemaker, someone who was setting back the reformers' negotiations with her impatience."  To that end, Leena forms a shillah or secret society.

The author foreshadows the future choice of temporary marriage that Leena, Aisha, Sofia and Mishail make in order to obtain some control over their lives. As Daria explains early on in the novel, "It's a way for single women to find a convenient guardian, or to, you know, do things, without waiting. Understand?" Although Leena is somewhat disgusted she realizes the temptation in signing a piece of paper in order to live in peace, to live one's life the way one chooses. Mishail believes people must do whatever they need to in order to survive, quoting her best friend, "Water will find a way."  And that is exactly what Leena, Misahil and Sofia discover as they are helped by Maryam Madam, Dr. Haider (Aisha's father), Mishail's father and Leena's mother to obtain a legal guardian, marry and leave the country. All of this demonstrates just how little freedom exists for women in Saudi Arabia outside of the conventional Muslim society and how much work remains to be done in the area of women's rights and the full participation of women in public life. But it also shows how people do work together to help women circumnavigate the strict rules of life in Saudi Arabia.

Anat Deracine is a pen name chosen by the author because it means "to uproot from one's native land"  reflecting  her experience as an immigrant, from Saudia Arabia to Canada and then to the United States. Deracine used her experiences growing up in Saudi Arabia to craft many of the scenes in her novel.

Driving By Starlight offers teen readers a window into a culture that is very different from their own in the West but its themes of the meaning of friendship and family are common to all cultures and to the challenging teen years. Although Deracine does include a Glossary at the back, there are many terms and concepts unique to a Muslim society that readers will not be familiar with and which perhaps should have been included in the Glossary and elaborated on in an Author's Note at the back. But overall, Deracine  portrays life in Saudi Arabia in a way that is real to her readers. Her characters are realistic, having both virtue and weaknesses. The beautiful cover will help to draw readers to read this well-written novel by this promising young author.

Book Details:

Driving By Starlight by Anat Deracine
New York: Henry Holt and Company      2018
277 pp.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

The Night Diary is a fictional account of one family's experience during the partition of India into two countries in 1947. The story is told in the form of diary entries written by the main character, Nisha beginning on her twelfth birthday, addressed to her deceased mother. 

Nisha receives the diary as birthday gift from Kazi, the family's Muslim servant. "The diary is covered in purple and red silk, decorated with small sequins and bits of mirrored glass sewn in. The paper is rough, thick, and the color of butter..." He tells Nisha "someone needs to make a record of the things that will happen because the grown-ups will be too busy." 

Nisha decides to address each entry to her mother Faria who died giving birth to Nisha and her twin brother Amil. For his birthday, Amil receives a beautiful book, a collection of tales from the Mahabharata, an ancient Hindu epic poem. The book contains beautiful coloured pictures, which Nisha knows Amil will love as he loves to draw but struggles to read.

Nisha and Amil live with their papa who is the head doctor at Mirpur Khas City Hospital, and Dadi, their grandmother in a large compound provided by the government. The compound consists of their home which is a large bungalow, cottages where Kazi Syed and their grounds keeper Mahit live, a vegetable garden and a chicken coop. Nisha and her brother both attend segregated government schools for boys and girls.

The first hint of change happens on July 18 when three men come to the house while Papa is at work and speak to Dadi. She orders Nisha and Amil into the kitchen with Kazi. Dadi won't tell them what they wanted but Amil tells his sister that he overheard the men asking Dadi when they would be leaving. The next day, July 19 Nisha and Amil are followed by two boys as they walk to school. Although this occasionally happens, this time the boys throw rocks at them. Nisha blames Amil who often taunts them and then runs away. But Amil tells her "It's because we're Hindus...There are lots of places all over India where the Hindus and Sikhs and Muslims fight one another all the time now...That's why those men came to the house yesterday. They said the Hindus should leave and they don't want Kazi to live with us."  

As tensions escalate, there is a fight between a Muslim and a Hindu boy at school and Amil is chased again after school. Papa decides that neither Nisha nor Amil will go to school. He explains that India will gain its independence from Britain but will be partitioned into two states. Their town of Mirpur Khas won't be in India but will now be a part of a new country called Pakistan. Although Gandhi wants everyone to live in peace, Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League wants a Muslim state while Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress wants to be prime minister of India.

Life at home leaves Nisha bored and missing school which she did well at. Then on August 2, a group of people break down the door of their home, ransacking and breaking furniture and pots while Nisha, Amil and Dadi hide in terror in the pantry. After they leave, Kazi comes to get them, his head bleeding profusely from a cut. Shortly after this Papa decides it is time for them to leave Mirpur Khas as it is no longer safe for them to stay. He decides to hold a party and invites family and friends. Their neighbours, uncles, aunties, cousins and Dr. Ahmed and his family attend the party.

After the party, Nisha realizes that she will have her memories of life in Mirpur Khas and new memories of life in the new India. "My childhood would always have a line drawn through it, the before and the after." Nisha, Amil and their father undertake a journey across India that will change them forever and in ways they cannot anticipate.

Discussion

Veera Hiranandani's The Night Diary is loosely based on the experiences of her father's family during the Partition. Hiranandani's father, grandparents, aunts and uncles had to cross the border from Mirpur Khas to Jodhpur in a journey similar to that undertaken by Nisha and her family.  Although they safely crossed the border, at least one million people died in this mass migration that saw tensions between Muslims and Hindus escalate into violence.

Hiranandani's novel presents a balanced portrayal of the relationship between Muslims and Hindus in pre-partitioned India.  As would be expected, the families of Nisha's Hindu father and Muslim mother had mixed reactions to their marriage years earlier: her father's family was against the marriage, puzzled by his lack of interest in the Hindu girls, while Nisha's mother's sister was so against the marriage that she never spoke to her again. However her mother's brother seemed supportive. Because of Nisha's mixed background she and her family are open to friendships with both Hindu and Muslim people: her father's best friend is Dr. Ahmed, a Muslim, while Nisha's best friend is Sabeen, a Muslim student. Their cook, Kazi is also Muslim and considered a member of the family.

When Nisha and her family become targets of violence she struggles to understand. Because of their mixed heritage, Nisha and Amil don't know who attacked their home and are left confused. "...And anyway I thought the two sides were supposed to be us and the British. Why are we fighting each other?" Nisha wants to "go somewhere fresh and new where people were happy..." and where "nobody would mind that you were Muslim and Papa was Hindu and Amil and I could hold both sides of our parents in our hearts." In trying to understand why people are fighting each other, Nisha asks, "Is it the brain that makes people love and hate? Or is it the heart?"

Nisha's father tells her that everyone is to blame. "...when you separate people into groups, they start to believe that one group is better than another." But Nisha recognizes "...we all have the same blood, and organs, and bones inside us, no matter what religion we're supposed to be."

The journey to the border is filled with hardships and terrifying experiences that change how Nisha views the world and push her to ask many questions. When they run out of water, Nisha thinks about Badal, the water man who brought water to their home daily. "I never thought about how heavy it must have been and how lucky we were to have someone bring it to us every day. A wave of shame rippled through the center of my body..." As their situation grows dire and they are unable to continue, Nisha begins to think about death. "...I've thought about other people dying, but I've never thought about me not actually being here anymore."

Suffering from dehydration and unable to continue their journey, Nisha tells Dadi she loves her, making her realize that although they "never said those words to one another..." they "did things that meant love." Nisha realises that love existed in their home in the form of service to one another. "Now I could see it. Dadi washing and mending my clothes. Papa kissing us on our foreheads before bedtime, Amil making a drawing of me. Kazi making my favorite paratha stuffed with fried onions and potatoes. Every day had been filled with things like this. All love, even between Papa and Amil." Facing certain death from lack of water, when Papa returns with the much needed water, his sacrifice and comforting of them convinces Nisha that her father loves them. "I knew I would remember this forever, pack it away in my mind."

After Nisha is attacked outside Rashid Uncle's home by a Muslim man who has seen his entire family murdered, she wonders, "Why had his family been killed? Why would anyone do that? Do people who kill start out like me, or are they a different kind of human?" The attack leaves Nisha unable to comprehend the violence. "I know lots of people have died walking and on the trains in both directions. The riots and killings keep happening. I still don't understand. We were all part of the same country last month, all these different people and religions living together. Now we are supposed to separate and hate one another. Does Papa secretly hate Rashid Uncle? Does Rashid Uncle secretly hate us? Where do Amil and I fit in to all of this hate? Can you hate half of a person?" Nisha is referring to the fact that she and Amil are from Muslim and Hindu parents, leading her to wonder how people will view them.

When they finally push their way onto a train to cross the border, Nisha watches as Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs fight one another in a bloody, deadly battle. "I looked at the dying men on the ground. For what? I did not know. More revenge? I shook all over. I had never seen anyone kill before. It has changed me. I used to think people were mostly good, but now I wonder if anyone could be a murderer..."

Hiranandani has populated her novel with realistic characters and has done an excellent job recreating the historical setting for the novel, demonstrating, not surprisingly she knows her subject well.

The Night Diary doesn't really explore the root of the tensions between Muslims and Hindus in British India but it does show that the partition of the country into two separate republics was a violent event. This event viewed through the eyes of young Nisha shows how senseless the violence was, in what should have been a very proud moment in the history of the country - freedom from almost three hundred years of British rule. Today tensions continue to exist between Muslims and Hindus both within India and Pakistan and also between the two countries who are arch enemies. Neither nation has fared well since the Partition; India continues to have serious social issues including poverty, an inability to eradicate the caste system and serious women's rights issues, while Pakistan struggles with government corruption and encroaching Islamic fundamentalism.

Hiranandani includes a short Author's Note that provides some background information about her family's experiences and about the Partition. Readers may find the following websites helpful:

Stanford University's 19947 Partition of India & Pakistan: https://exhibits.stanford.edu/1947-partition/about/1947-partition-of-india-pakistan

The British National Archives also have much information as does the BBC website (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05b5fdg ).

Overall The Night Diary is an excellent, well-written novel for younger readers about an important event in the 20th century.

Book Details:

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
New York: Dial Books For Young Readers    2018
264 pp.

DVD: Victoria and Abdul

The movie Victoria and Abdul portrays the unusual friendship which developed between Queen Victoria of England and an Indian Muslim servant, Abdul Karim. This relationship was to cause scandal and intense jealousy among the Victorian British aristocrats and royalty of the time. It was largely forgotten mainly because after Queen Victoria's death, all of the correspondence between Abdul and Victoria over a thirteen year period was destroyed by members of the Royal family.

Almost immediately after the elderly monarch's funeral, Queen Victoria's daughter Beatrice and her daughter-in-law - King Albert's wife - Queen Alexandra walked to Frogmore Cottage - the home of Abdul Karim and his family-  on the grounds of Windsor Castle. They burst into the home and forced Abdul's wife to hand over the letters Queen Victoria had sent him. The house was searched by accompanying guards and any letters, correspondence, notes, and postcards were removed, and thrown into a bonfire on the lawn. Abdul and his wife were summarily deported the next day to India. Albert had finally erased all evidence of Abdul Karim from his family's history. Or so he thought.

The story of their unique friendship might never have come to light if it were not for Indian author and journalist, Shrabani Basu. On a visit to Osborne House on Isle of Wight to see the newly restored Durbar Room, Basu couldn't help noticing the several portraits of Abdul Karim, especially one by Rudolf Swoboda. Although she initially thought he was an Indian servant of the late Queen, Basu noticed that Abdul was portrayed as a nobleman. Her interest piqued, Basu began her research, a task that would take her to three countries over a period of five years. First she discovered the late monarch's thirteen Hindustani journals, written in Urdu, a language the queen had learned to read and write from Abdul. The journals, which were kept in the Royal Archives, had never been translated. Basu also located a few surviving pieces of correspondence written by Queen Victoria to Abdul and read the personal diaries of her physician, Sir James Reid as well as the correspondence of the Royal household, the Viceroys of India and many other letters written by the monarch.

Rudolf Swoboda's portrait of Abdul Karim

 To learn more, Basu travelled to Agra, India where she located Abdul's abandoned and derelict tombstone and she also discovered the house that Abdul had built on land given to him by Queen Victoria. However, the family was no longer living there and the house was occupied by a Hindu family who informed her that Abdul Karim's family had moved to Pakistan after the 1947 Partition of India.

Basu returned to England and in 2010 published her book about Abdul and the Queen, Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confidant.  Eventually she was contacted by the great nephew of Abdul who told her that the family in Karachi, Pakistan had possession of Abdul's journal. From this journal, Basu was able to piece together the long-forgotten story of Abdul Karim and his thirteen-year friendship with Queen Victoria. It was a story King Edward VII and the royal court attempted to wipe away when his wife, Queen Alexandra and Princess Beatrice arrived at the home of Abdul after Queen Victoria's death.

Victoria and Abdul, directed by Stephen Frears is based on Basu's book. The  movie  begins Abdul's story in Agra in 1887 with Britain having formally ruled India for twenty-nine years at this point. Abdul Karim, who is seen recording the names of criminals, is called to the Government office to see Mr. Tyler. Tyler thanks Abdul for the carpets he chose to be sent to the British Exhibition and states that the Governor General has decided to present the Queen with a "Mohur" as part of the Jubilee. To present this coin, Abdul and another Indian have been chosen to travel to England. While Abdul is excited at this prospect, Mohammed intimates that he was forced to make the journey.

In England, Abdul and Mohammed have authentic uniforms tailored for them and after being instructed on how the evening at Windsor Castle will proceed, they are warned not to look directly at the Queen. This is an instruction Abdul disobeys as he is backing away from the queen. The next day as Abdul and Mohammed are readying to leave England and return to India, Mr. Bigge arrives to inform them that they will be remaining in England. Eventually the two are made the Queen's personal footmen.

As Queen Victoria spends time with Abdul she learns about his family, about the beauty of India including the Taj Mahal and the Peacock Throne, but also about the pillaging of these national treasures by the British. Abdul tells her about spices and Indian food including garam masala, Dal rogan josh and chutney made of mango. And Abdul begins to teach the Queen how to speak and write Urdu, the language of the poets.When Queen Victoria reveals her loneliness and sadness and that she no longer sees a purpose for her life, Abdul tells her  life is about service. He quotes a verse from the Koran, telling the Queen, "We are here for the good of others."and reveals himself to be a Muslim.  Abdul tells Queen Victoria that he is a Muslim and that his father was his munshi - his teacher. Inspired by his words, Queen Victoria requests that Abdul become her munshi, to teach her the Koran, Urdu and anything else he can think of.

But Queen Victoria's growing friendship with Abdul, her learning to read and write Urdu, and her bestowing honors and titles on him, lead to resistance, jealousy and plotting within the royal household to get rid of Abdul.

Discussion

Victoria and Abdul is a fascinating film about a little known friendship during the reign of Queen Victoria. The movie stars Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, Ali Fazil who portrays Abdul Karim, Adeel Akhar who is Mohammed Buksh, Michael Gambon as the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury and Tim Pigott-Smith as the Queen's Private Secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby. Eddie Izzard looks remarkably like his character, Bertie, The Prince of Wales and the future King Edward VII. And for Dench, it's not the first time she's portrayed Queen Victoria; she starred in Mrs. Brown, a film about her deep friendship with John Brown, a Scottish servant.

The film is "based on real events - mostly" as a disclaimer states in the opening scenes. Most of what is portrayed in the film, Abdul's unusually intimate friendship with Victoria, her learning Urdu, and the racist and jealous attitudes towards Abdul are accurate.  However, Director Frears does take some liberties. For example, Abdul did not travel to England to present the Queen with a newly minted medal but came to England because Queen Victoria requested two Indian attendants for her Golden Jubilee celebrations. While Queen Victoria is portrayed as a racially tolerant woman, she was British and the British ruled over India with policies that created serious racial and religious tensions on the Indian subcontinent. The Victorian court and Victorian society viewed people of colour as unequals and social policies reflected this belief. The British attitude is subtly portrayed throughout the film; for example when Arthur Bigge sets foot back in England, he remarks, "Civilization!" even though England, like India has a strict class system and plenty of beggars - as shown on the docks.

Abdul (left) and Mohammed (right)

In the film, Victoria is portrayed as quite ignorant of the culture and beauty of India, despite that fact that one of her titles is Empress of India. This may have been because, as she explains in the film to Abdul, she has never visited India due to fears that she would be assassinated. Abdul tells her about the spices and foods of India, garam masala and chutney made of mango - fruit Victoria is determined to sample.

Abdul tells her the story behind the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra, but he also tells her that the jewels of this historic and important site were stolen by the British. He enthralls the Queen with his descriptions of the Peacock Throne which he claims was smashed by the British as a punishment for the Indian rebellion. In the film Queen Victoria is portrayed as being quite dismayed at the destruction of the Peacock Throne and the vandalism of the Taj Mahal, however, these actions were likely seen as justified by the British and occurred while Victoria was Queen.

Nevertheless, Abdul was able to influence the Queen to learn something of Indian culture, so much so that she even created her own Durbar Room at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She commissioned John Lockwood Kipling and Sikh artisan Bhai Ram Singh to decorate the room which was filled mostly with gifts from Indian princes.

The Indian view of Queen Victoria and the British is presented in the film through the character of Mohammed Buksh. While Abdul is thrilled to be traveling to England to meet Queen Victoria, Mohammed is not impressed because she is someone who has "oppressed the entire Indian subcontinent". Mohammed often makes humorous but accurate statements about the British throughout, and he is shown as refusing to help Bertie and other members of the royal household when they ask for help in forcing Abdul to return to India. His derision towards Bertie is marked and representative of the growing resentment of the Indian people towards the British.

Overall though Victoria and Abdul is an entertaining film that opens a window into the very end of the Victorian era. Frears was able to film on location in many of the original settings including Osborne House, Balmoral Castel and Glen Affric and the cinematography captures the beauty of these places admirably.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

The new school year has just started for eleven-year-old Amina Khokar and her best friend Soojin Park. They are in sixth grade at Greendale Middle School. Amina's father is from Pakistan, but she and her older brother Mustafa were born in America. Amina loves to sing and plays piano but because of what happened in grade three she refuses to sing in front of people. Amina and her brother attend Sunday school at the Islamic Center of Milwaukee where  they learn Arabic and study verses of the Quran.

Soojin's family moved from South Korea to America when she was four years old. Soojin has been Amina's best friend since third grade when her family moved to Greendale just outside Milwaukee. Her family owns a restaurant in downtown Milwaukee called Park Avenue Deli. Soojin is excited at the prospect of becoming an American citizen. Her family will be sworn in as new citizens in October and Soojin is considering choosing an American name.

With the new school year starting, Amina watches as their classmate Emily, who has always belittled her and Soojin is suddenly friendly towards Soojin. Amina is distrustful of Emily's intentions because of her actions in the past. She has commented on Amina and Soojin teaching each other Urdu and Korean, and she's started rumours about Soojin's family serving dog at their restaurant. Amina can't understand why Soojin doesn't remember how mean Emily has been to them. When she asks Soojin after school, she tells Amina that she needs to give Emily a chance.

Amina is unhappy when Soojin agrees to let Emily join them to work on a project about the Oregon trail. At Soojin's house Amina questions her friend as to whether or not she really wants to be friends with Emily and is worried she will lose her best friend to Emily.  Emily begins sitting with them at lunch, appears to enjoy Soojin's Korean food and then confides in them about a boy she likes.

Meanwhile at home, Baba announces that Thaya Jaan - his older brother will be visiting from Pakistan. Baba is worried Bhai Jaan won't like they way they live in America. Baba's older brother's visit is worrisome because "Bhai Jaan is set in his ways". Baba's worries prove valid as Bhai Jaan is critical of the way Amina and Mustafa are being raised. His views begin to cause confusion and worry for Amina.

Besides struggling with her friendship with Soojin and her confusion over what her Muslim faith teaches, Amina also struggles with stage fright. She has a beautiful voice and can play piano but Amina doesn't want to participate in the Quran competition at her mosque, nor does she want to perform in the Winter Choral Concert. Amina dislikes performing in front of people because she's afraid of making a mistake and being ridiculed.

Amina and Soojin's friendship is tested when Amina reveals a secret Emily entrusted to them. Amina also struggles with family issues: Mustafa's ability to make responsible choices is questioned, and Baba and Mama must confront Bhai Jaan about their right to raise their children as they wish. All of this is set against the backdrop of a terrible act of vandalism against the Islamic center that ultimately draws the community together.

Discussion

Amina's Voice tells the story of a young girl's struggles to deal with everyday life while growing up, against the backdrop of religious prejudice in America. Khan has included a diverse cast of characters that include the Pakistani-American Khohar family, the Korean Park family and Emily whose grandmother is Polish. Young readers will learn a little about Pakistani and Korean culture, with some emphasis on food! Khan includes many descriptions of the food that Amina's family eats. For example Amina's family serves their guest Bhai Jaan curried chicken, spicy spinach lamb stew, naan and lentils. Later on dessert consists of gulab jamun, described by Amina as "sticky, sweet, doughnutlike treats" in a "thick honey-colored syrup." When Amina visits Soojin's home she's careful to avoid the extra fridge reserved for making kimchi, fermented cabbage or other vegetables. Food is often an important way for people from different cultures to connect. It is often the first introduction to another culture: visiting a restaurant or a friend's home for a meal.

The Khohar family however is the main focus of the story and they are realistically portrayed with Khan showing them to be a typical American family in many ways. Their children experience the same problems and struggles as other American children while their parents have the same worries as parents everywhere do.

Amina's Voice explores the theme of friendship, encouraging readers to consider what constitutes being a good friend and the role forgiveness and acceptance play in friendship. Amina finds her friendship with her best friend Soojin changing. While Amina struggles to forgive the unkindness of a classmate, Soojin is more willing to forget the past. When Amina reminds Soojin of all the terrible things Emily has said and done, Soojin replies, "I don't know. She used to be really immature. But I think she's changed. She makes an effort, and she's not so bad."  As Amina and Soojin spend more time with Emily, Amina realizes Emily's life might not be what she thought it was. "Emily's life always seemed perfect to me, but now I wonder if maybe it isn't."  This belief that others have a much easier and happier life is often not true: everyone has their own struggles.

Despite this revelation, Amina feels both panic and jealousy as Soojin and Emily begin to connect and spend more time together. Soojin and Emily discover they have much in common; they both live with grandparents and annoying little sisters, and they both have similar religious beliefs. This leads Amina to worry these connections will lead to the loss of her friendship with Soojin. She repeatedly attempts to push Emily away, but Soojin remains firm in her friendship with both Emily and Amina. This indicates that Soojin is a true friend to Amina, something she hasn't yet recognized.  Amina doesn't realize that Emily's confiding in them about her crush on a classmate indicates that Emily considers them both friends and trustworthy. She reveals this is why she is no longer friends with Julie. When Amina reveals Emily's secret, this breaks both Soojin and Emily's trust in Amina.

However, both Soojin and Emily demonstrate that their friendship with Amina is true by forgiving her. Soojin comes to the meeting at the school cafeteria to comfort Amina after the attack on the mosque and when Amina apologizes again, Soojin explains to Amina that they formed an opinion about Emily without really knowing her. It is at this point that Amina realizes Emily was also trying to be friends with her. From this experience Amina decides she will never "betray a friend's trust again."

At the same time Amina begins to experience confusion about her Muslim faith when her Thaya Jaan comes to visit. Her uncle has some strict interpretations of their Muslim faith and this leads him to question Baba as to why the children don't speak Urdu. Later on Amina overhears Bhai Jaan criticizing her father for allowing her to sing and play piano. "...music is forbidden in Islam. It's a waste of time and has no benefit. Instead of filling her head with music, she should focus on memorizing Quran." Amina wonders if she is doing something wrong. "I can't shake the uneasy feeling that has settled on me like dust for days -- have I been doing something wrong, or un-Islamic, by spending so much of my time singing and playing piano." When she questions her father about why God hates music, Amina's mother explains that "God does not hate music. I don't believe that, or that it's wrong for you to play or to sing. Why would he give you so much talent then?" Eventually Amina's parents intervene and explain to her uncle that they have the right to teach their children their own values. These scenes serve to demonstrate that the Muslim faith includes many variations of belief and practice - Amina's family are less strict about following certain practices than Bhai Jaan. This is no different from those who practice Christianity or Judaism.

Amina's Voice tackles the sensitive issue of religious persecution of Muslims in America in a way that is suitable for younger readers. The vandalism and arson is described but not in a graphic manner.  Instead the focus is on how the Muslim community reacts to the destruction of their beloved mosque and cultural center and how the community pulls together to help their Muslim brothers and sisters. The lesson here is that hate can be overcome by acts of goodwill and love.

CNN has indicated that there have been an average of nine mosques targeted every month from January to July 2017 (this includes threats, arson and vandalism) in America. However,  there have been no reported attacks on mosques in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The attack on the mosque in Amina's Voice will seem quite real to younger readers but it is fictional.  It would have been helpful if Khan had included a note at the back of her novel to explain that the attack described in the story was fictional but that religious prejudice in America is a growing problem and that freedom of religion is guaranteed under the United States constitution.

The cover of Amina's Voice, while colourful and attractive, is somewhat reminiscent of a Disney princess perhaps to attract young readers. Amina's Voice is a worthwhile read that offers young readers the opportunity to explore diverse characters and their culture, to think about the meaning of friendship and to consider the growing problem of religious discrimination, particularly towards, but not limited to Muslims. It is a well-written novel that handles a difficult topic in a sensitive and positive manner.

Book Details:

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan
New York: Salaam Reads   2017
197 pp.

In A Perfect World by Trish Doller

Seventeen-year-old Caroline Kelly is stunned to learn she will be spending her senior year of high school living in Cairo, Egypt. Caroline had planned to spend her summer vacation working at Cedar Point with her best friend Hannah. Her parents had also arranged for her to attend a summer soccer camp at Ohio State and Caroline's goal was to make captain of the girl's team in her senior year.

Instead, Caroline and her mother will be spending the year in Cairo where her mother will be working for OneVision, a nongovernmental global health organization that "provides eye examinations and glasses to people in need, and eye surgeries to restore sight." Her mother, has been asked to set up an eye clinic in Cairo. Caroline will finish her senior year at the American school. Caroline's father who is a tugboat captain will only stay for a week to help them get set up in their apartment.

At the Cairo airport they meet Ahmed Saleh Elhadad who is their driver. Mr. Elhadad drives them to Rhoda Island, where their apartment is located. Their third floor apartment is large and sunny, but not furnished as agreed on, meaning they must buy everything. Mr. Elhadad sends his son, Adam to set up their new furniture a few days later. Caroline notes that Adam is cute but is puzzled by his reluctant greeting. Her mother explains this is his way of showing respect.

The next morning, Mr. Elhadad takes Caroline and her parents to see Manshiyat Nasr neighborhood where the new clinic is located. He tells them that it is known as the Garbage city because the "people who live there - the Zabbaleen - collect the garbage from around Cairo and take it back to Manshiyat Nasr to sort out the recyclables."  The city has no running water, sewers and little electricity.  However, Dr. Kelly's clinic is clean and bright, already for her to set up.

Manshiyat Nasr- the Garbage City

Caroline attempts to follow her mother's suggestion that she not stay within the confines of their apartment, but her first outing, an attempt to walk to the movie theater is disastrous when she is harassed by an older Egyptian man. She flees back to the apartment where she tells Adam what happened. He tells her she must try to ignore this behaviour as even some of the niqabi are assaulted. Caroline notes that Adam seems interested in her and she wonders if she could be attracted to someone like him.

After a week in the apartment, Caroline's mother calls Mr. Elhadad who offers to take Caroline to the pyramids. However, it is Adam who shows up, when Mr. Elhadad becomes ill. Caroline isn't ready to see the pyramids, so Adam takes her to the restaurant where he works, gets a take-out order of ksohary and they go to the park to eat.  A few days later, Caroline summons her courage and walks down to the movie theatre to see a film. This time she has no problems. Adam takes Caroline to the Friday Market, the souk al-Gomaa which Caroline describes as "more like a garage sale on the surface of the sun." Adam is helpful and tries to teach Caroline how to haggle. She also begins to learn more about Adam, that his mother, Manar works in a wedding shop altering dresses, and that he has a younger sister Aya who is fifteen.

Koshary - popular street food in Cairo.

After Caroline and her mother are taken to the pyramids at Giza by Mr. Elhadad, who has now recovered, they stop for a snack at the shop where Adam works. Following the meal, Mr. Elhadad has a heart attack and is rushed to hospital. This development means that Adam must leave his job and take over his father's responsibilities as Caroline's driver. This sets up an awkward situation because both Caroline and Adam feel increasingly attracted to one another. As Adam drives Caroline to various sites around Cairo (the Hanging Church, Khan el-Khalili), their budding friendship blossoms into a forbidden love. But when radical Islamists attack the OneVision clinic, Caroline's family must change their plans. Can their new love overcome the obstacles of culture and distance?

Discussion

In A Perfect World is a touching story about identity, forbidden love and tolerance. Doller tackles many different issues in her novel including how different life is for women in Egypt compared to America, the role religion plays in Egyptian society, the strong influence of family on young people and how two  cultures have generalized misconceptions about each other.

Doller focuses on Caroline's journey towards understanding a culture very different from her own. Caroline is an Irish Catholic who has grown up in predominantly white Sandusky, Ohio. Her mother, Dr. Rebecca Kelly is an eye specialist, while her father is a rugged tugboat captain. Caroline's life is much different from that of Adam: she has played soccer, dated and is planning to study anthropology at university. In contrast Adam Elhadad is a devout Muslim who is working in koshary shop and hopes to be a chef one day. His sister Aya wants to study engineering but that is dependent on her test scores. Unlike Caroline who doesn't believe in fate, while Adam and his sister, Aya believe whatever happens is the will of Allah.

The Hanging Church

As soon as she arrives in Cairo, Caroline experiences a profound culture shock. "...people are staring. At her. At me. Particularly the men, who drag their gazes from my hair to my chest -- even though my red bandana-print top covers me completely..." Caroline is surprised to see some women with their hair uncovered, "flowing around their shoulders or knotted in buns." Some girls wear hijabs, others are dressed in jeans and sandals. "Many --but not all--of the older women are cloaked in black abayas and hijabs, while a few wear veils over the lower part of their faces. These women unsettle me because their identities, their personalities, are concealed. Are they happy? Sad? With their mouths covered, it feels as if they've been silenced...Clearly the rules are more complex than I thought. But if Muslim women have a choice in what they wear, why would they choose to cover themselves up?"

Caroline is even put off by the Arabic language which she describes as "...a harsh and unyielding language that I will never be able to understand." When she and her family first hear the Muslim call to prayer from the nearby mosque, Caroline describes it as "eerie as it is beautiful, but unsettling in the same way as the veiled woman at the airport. Fear of the unknown. I don't understand what is being sung--or why."

When she first meets Adam Elhadad, Caroline is surprised to discover that he looks like an ordinary guy that she might meet back home in Sandusky and that he's handsome. She "expected something more unusual" and wonders if she could be attracted to a boy like him.

However, as she experiences life in Egypt and learns more about the culture, Caroline's preconceived ideas about Islam and the Middle East begin to change. This is demonstrated in her conversation with her best friend Hannah who believes all Middle Eastern men have beards and admits that the only Middle Eastern man she knows is Osama bin Laden, a terrorist. Caroline tells her "The Middle East is a huge place -- a bunch of different countries that have their own cultures. Not all the men have beards, just like not all the women wear hijabs, but misconceptions like these are how people end up believing that everyone from the Middle East is a terrorist."

When the adhan (call to prayer) begins, Caroline no longer finds it so scary, "especially now that I'm getting used to it, now that I know people who rise before the sun to say the prayers and perform the movements that accompany them." She begins to learn a some Arabic, teaching herself numbers and invites Adam to teach her some basic words.

Doller uses Caroline and Adam's different faith beliefs to demonstrate, that despite their obvious differences, people are often more similar than is immediately evident. Caroline's mother helps her to see that some things about the Muslim's practice of their faith is not so different from their own faith. She points out that as a Catholic she says morning and evening prayers and even prays throughout the day, something she has in common with the Egyptian Muslims. Their calls to prayer are similar to the ringing of church bells in Sandusky for Mass. When Adam informs Caroline that Muslims use their right hand for all things honorable they discover that they are both left handed and that family members have been discouraged from using their left hand. Later on when talking with Aya, Caroline notes that her grandmother has a similar saying to the Arabic "Inshallah" which means "If it is God's will."

Caroline's mother, as an eye specialist who helps people to see, is a symbol of how Caroline's vision of Islam and Egypt change. Just as her mother restores the vision of her patients, Caroline also experiences a change in how she views the world. She sees both the reality of life under Islam, it's cultural restrictions and differences, but also how Adam, Aya and Mr. Elhadad are not so different from her and her family and friends.

As Caroline and Adam fall in love, they face increasing resistance from their concerned families and friends. Adam knows a relationship with Caroline is "haram" but he decides to follow his heart. He must deal with the expectations of his family to marry a Muslim girl, while Caroline struggles to fit in with his friends, some of whom do not like her. She also feels deep conflict over what a possible marriage to Adam might mean. Caroline cannot envisage herself converting to Islam and living the rest of her life in Cairo as she feels strongly drawn to her Catholic faith. As it turns out neither have to decide at this time to go against their culture or their beliefs. In a perfect world, they might more easily choose to marry.

Doller weaves in a satisfying ending for her readers, that is both romantic and plausible. Adam and Caroline are free to choose their relationship but only in America where society is more open. This novel's strengths are its descriptions of life in Cairo and the well drawn cast of characters.  Even the secondary characters, for the most part, are real and interesting. With one exception.

Sadly this novel is marred by a stereotypical portrayal of an older Catholic, Caroline's Grandma Irene who is characterized as a bigot. She warns Caroline "to stay away from Muslims." obviously an impossible task for her granddaughter who is living in a Muslim country. Grandma Irene is portrayed as a hypocritical Catholic, attending weekly Mass while hating Muslims. She is the foil to the younger Caroline, who represents the modern Catholic, open, flexible, and tolerant. Of course no mention is made of why Caroline's grandmother feels this way, only that it is wrong and intolerant. It's important for young readers to understand the history between Catholics and Muslims and why older Catholics might hold such beliefs. The animosity between Muslims and Catholics goes back to the 7th century with the loss of important Christian shrines in the Holy Land, the severe persecution and enslavement of Catholics in Muslim countries, as well as several attempts to conquer Christian Europe throughout the centuries. In particular, Christians in Egypt are persecuted, particularly Coptic Christians. In April 2017 two churches were bombed in Tanta and Alexandria during Easter and in May 2017 a group of Coptic Christians on a pilgrimage were massacred by Muslim extremists. Christians who make up ten per cent of Egypt's population complain of little protection by police and non enforcement of freedom of religion laws. To make her grandmother even more intolerant, it turns out she doesn't like blacks either. Caroline's Grandma Irene reflects the once prevalent but still existing Catholic practice of encouraging Catholics to marry Catholics, mainly to safeguard the Catholic partner's freedom to continue to practice their religion and also to ensure that children are also raised as Catholics - a requirement for a Catholic marriage. It is to be pointed out, that Muslims also have a similar practice when it comes to marriages.

Overall, In A Perfect World is a timely novel that explores both the differences and similarities between a Muslim and a post-Christian culture through the eyes of two young people.

Book Details:

In A Perfect World by Trish Doller
Toronto: Simon Pulse     2017
294 pp.

Welcome To Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird

Twelve-year-old Omar Hamid lived with his family in Bosra, Syria. By his own admission, it was a beautiful town with Roman ruins in the center that regularly drew tourists from all over the world. His father worked at the tourism office while his mother, Leila cared for their family. At this time, Omar family consisted of his older brother Musa who has cerebral palsy, his fifteen-year-old sister Eman, his five-year-old brother Fuad and his baby sister Nadia. Omar worked in his Uncle Ali's hardware store before school and when school ended at 1pm, he worked with Rasoul trying to get the tourists to buy from his souvenir shop.

At his uncle's shop one morning, a man Omar calls Mr. Nosy warns his Uncle Ali about his son studying at university telling him to stay away from politics. He tells him there are terrorists everywhere. Uncle Ali is shaken by this, closes his shop and tells Omar he's leaving town. On the way home from school that day, Musa reveals to Omar that they are moving to Daraa because their father has been transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Omar's family move to Daraa happens the same time the trouble began. Their last day at school Omar overhears Musa's friends talking about two fifteen-year-old boys who sprayed slogans on walls calling for the downfall of the Syrian government. They were caught and tortured. As the family is packing, Omar's parents quarrel over sixteen-year-old Eman continuing school. His mother wants her to continue but the father feels she should be married.

They move to his granny's flat in Daraa. Also living in Daraa is his Auntie Majda and her little girls. At school Omar is shocked to see Musa become part of a group led by a boy named Bassem. Musa tells Omar that Bassem's cousin was his friend in Bosra and that he and his friends have been involved in plotting a revolution. Along with his nerdy friends back in Bosra, Musa has discovered the terrible things the Syrian government has been involved in; arrests, disappearances and torture of citizens. They want to live in a democratic state and have been organizing the marches and demonstrations. Musa challenges Omar, asking him if he cares that he lives in a dictatorship.

One day after mosque, Omar discovers Musa has a phone given to him by Bassem. When he arrives home, Omar finds his mother frantic because there are demonstrations in Daraa. She sends him out to get Granny and Nadia who have gone to Auntie Majda's home. Omar witnesses the demonstration and the Syrian government troops opening fire on the students. One of those students is his brother Musa whom Omar helps to flee. They hide his cell phone just before they are confronted by a soldier but manage to convince him they are not involved in the demonstration. With Bassem's help they rescue Granny and Nadia who have been trapped outside Auntie Majda's flat. Eventually Omar retrieves the phone which has film of the demonstration and Musa gives it to Bassem and Latif.

The student actions ignite a civil war that begins to engulf them all. Every day there are marches followed by funerals. Latif is shot in the head and dies in hospital. The internet is cut off, the schools closed and then tanks roll into Daraa, besieging the city. A tense moment occurs when the soldiers begin searching every house. Musa has to hide both his phone and a little notebook. He and Omar manage this and the soldiers leave without discovering either.

Soon a full scale civil war is happening. The electricity is cut which means no lights, no mobile phones, and no fridge. There are bombings and shootings. Omar is constantly afraid, his younger brother Faud begins wetting the bed, Eman gets a rash and Musa has nightmares. Then one day Baba returns home because the Ministry of Agriculture is closed. When he learns that Musa is out, Baba is furious and Omar is sent out to bring him home. On their way back, Omar is shot by a soldier, the bullet grazing his arm. Even worse a shell lands on the house next to theirs, destroying both homes. After spending the night huddled in a shed, Omar and his family work to clean up their apartment. However, Uncle Feisal shows up offering them a way out of Daraa. He takes them to Leila's brother-in-law's farm outside Bosra.

Uncle Mahmud and Auntie Fawzia take Omar and his family in, giving them the storeroom to stay in. Baba returns to Daraa to stay with a friend in a quiet part of town, away from the fighting. Meanwhile Omar begins helping out on the farm, working with his cousin Jaber. Life on the farm seems tranquil and safe with the fighting confined mostly to the cities. But soon the violence spreads into every area of Syria and Omar and his family must flee, leaving everything behind. It is a journey that will take them far from home, to a distant land and a new life.

Discussion

Laird has written a solid novel that offers young readers the chance to learn about the Syrian war and the plight of refugees. The experiences of young Omar and his family opens a window on the culture of Muslim Syrians.  In some ways the Hamid family is not that much different from families in the West. Omar like many children, doesn't like school. Instead, he's interested in making money and someday owning his own business. His older sister Eman has dreams of continuing school. Musa, whose intelligence is hidden by his cerebral palsy, is politically engaged and wants to work for a democratic Syria. Omar's mother and father love and care for their children and simply want to raise their children in a safe, clean city. They are part of a large extended family who care for one another.

However, some things are very different in Syria. This is especially true of how women and the disabled are treated. Omar's older sister Eman is a good student but because education is strictly segregated, Eman attends an all girls school. Eman wants to be a teacher, a goal Baba does not support. Her mother does because she wanted to be a teacher before she was forced into marriage to Baba at age fifteen. When the family is forced to move to Daraa, Baba decides that Eman will no longer attend school. "Education's a waste of time for girls. Eman's sixteen already. It's high time she was married. I've had a good offer..." Omar's mother is shocked at this revelation and refuses to move to Daraa unless Eman is able to continue school.  Eman tells Omar, "...I want to do something Omar! I want to be a teacher! Have my own life!"  

Later on when war comes to the farm outside of Bosra where Omar's family has fled, Eman learns that her father, mother and auntie have all worked to arrange her marriage to Abu Bilal, a man who is later discovered to have raped and nearly killed another girl. Eman's feelings don't matter and she is never consulted. She resists the marriage, but is slapped and abused by her family. In desperation she attempts to starve herself and threatens to kill herself. Omar watches and is powerless to help his older sister. It is only in the refugee camp, without the presence of Baba, that Musa stands up to Bilal and refuses to allow the marriage to happen.

The attitude towards Omar's disabled brother Musa is also very different. Omar relates that "The teachers had written him off for years and said he was stupid." Musa has been laughed at, beaten and even had his arm broken at school. He's been bruised, insulted and had his notebooks destroyed.  But in spite of this Musa has persisted in attending school. It was his seventh grade teacher, Mr. Ibrahim who recognized Musa's intelligence and this forced Omar to recognize that his brother is a "brainbox". Even some of his own family struggle to accept Musa. Omar states that "Granny couldn't bear the sight of Musa. 'There have never been any deformed children on our side of the family,'   I heard her say to Baba, looking accusingly at Ma."  Musa becomes politically active and is involved in the planning of the initial actions against the Syrian government. He shows great courage and takes terrible risks to fight for what he believes in. Always an outsider because of his disability, this offers Musa a chance to belong to something important.

Laird who visited and volunteered at two refugee camps, Za'atari and Azraq in Jordan, provides her young readers with a real sense of what life is like in these camps. Through the characters of Eman and Omar, Laird describes the hopelessness for the future. "Eman shrugged. 'So what? Anything's better than living in limbo here! What have we got to look forward to? Nothing. There's no school for Musa and me, no work...Eman sighed. 'I just feel hopeless, that's all.We're in a sort of prison. We're nowhere. And we might be here forever." Yet when the opportunity to leave the refugee camp and travel to Britain arises, Omar and Musa feel fear and Musa resists. "...But in England we'd be just a bunch of refugees, living on charity. You know what the British say about Arabs and Muslims? They think we're all crazy terrorists..."

Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan

In Omar, Laird has crafted a strong, appealing main character whose actions and feelings are authentic. Omar is loyal, brave and compassionate. He helps his brother Musa when he repeatedly gets himself in a tight spot, despite feeling frustrated and angry at him. When Baba abandons the family after learning of Musa's involvement with the Syrian rebels, Omar becomes responsible for many of his family's needs, demonstrating a maturity beyond his years. As expected, Omar feels overwhelmed by this responsibility. He sympathizes with Eman over her being forced to marry a much older man whom Omar knows is of poor character. He courageously, but unsuccessfully, attempts to convince his Ma that Bilal is an evil man. Eventually Omar does convince Musa to defend their older sister. Instead of attacking Riad, a poor boy who is running wild in the camp, Omar takes him under his wing, turning him from the path of a thief into a boy focused on trying to do the right thing.

Welcome To Nowhere is highly recommended for readers aged 9 to 13 but will also appeal to older readers. Laird has included a map showing the location of Syria in the Middle East but there is no map showing Omar's journey to Jordan nor the location of the refugee camp.  There is an informative "Letter From The Author" at the back of the book which provides more details about the Syrian situation. Welcome To Nowhere is a good book to acquaint younger readers with the Syrian refugee situation and to help them better understand the plight of refugees.

Image credits:

Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan: https://www.samsamwater.com/projectdata.php?projectid=85

Book Details:

Welcome To Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird
London: Macmillan Children's Books     2017
329 pp.