Nina Hamza
HarperCollins, 2021
320 pages
Grades 3-6
Realistic Fiction
The start of middle school is not promising as Ahmed moves from Hawaii to Minnesota, where his father grew up. He doesn't know anyone and there doesn't appear to be any brown kids, making him stick out even more. The family relocated to be closer to the medical treatments his Dad requires for a life-threatening liver illness. The only boy on the block, Jack, is not only unfriendly, but begins to bully Ahmed. Luckily, he meets a couple of kids in his classes, joins the media club, and slowly finds his people. More of a tech-geek than a reader, Ahmed is placed in advanced language arts and the teacher turns out to be a childhood friend of his dad and deceased uncle. Through this teacher Ahmed is forced to read three middle grade classics, discovering himself to be a reader after all, and learning more about his family's history. A blatant and life-altering incident bring the bullying problems to a head. Ahmed comes up with a well-crafted plan of revenge, only, is it the best course of action to take? It is a year of changes, growing up, and self-discovery, all while Dad is fighting for his life. Will the school year end tragically or triumphantly?
Debut author, Hamza, crafts an own-voices account of a Muslim-Indian boy transplanted in the Midwest. The conflict involves the constant bullying (motivation is provided, giving the character depth beyond villainy), Dad's illness, and feeling like an outsider. All plotlines are resolved satisfactorily and redemption is achieved with the bully without soiled hands or further conflict. Ahmed is a sympathetic character and readers will emotionally grow spending time in his shoes. He learns many lessons, including that everyone is going through stuff and aren't just watching you, friends can be family, and that the journey is more important than the destination. Kids from other cultures will relate with the frustration of no one being able to correctly pronounce Ahmed's name and the embarrassment of eating unfamiliar foods at lunch. The climax arrives as the police respond to a potential threat at the school by interrogating and harassing Ahmed, which made me squirm. Teachers will find this a useful book to start the school year either as a read-aloud or as part of the classroom library. My favorite part of the book was watching Ahmed grow as a reader, proving that everyone can learn to love books-they just need to be pointed in the right direction.
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