by Randa Abdel-Fattah 

5 Stars

Amal is a sixteen-year-old Australian-Muslim-Palestinian living in Australia during the 2000s. She decides to start wearing a hijab, a religious head covering, in order to practice her religion to the fullest. She lives in a very “white” neighbourhood yet she doesn’t let the constant taunting get to her.  

The kids at her school along with many teachers judge her based on prejudice, yet she doesn’t let them get to her because she just could not care any less about anyone’s opinion-almost everyone’s opinion. She does, however, care deeply about Adam, one of the few kinder kids in her class who she is sure she can win over. As the book progresses, she does start to get affected by the words and all the other struggles in her life- such as her friend Laila who does not want to get married at seventeen, much to her parents’ wishes, winning Adam over, and helping her friend Simone get over her body dysmorphia. Her parents, as kind as they are, just do not understand what she’s going through, as much as they like to say they do. Like every great book, the antagonist, Tia and her “army” are always at her neck and belittling Amal for her faith. Her source of strength are her friends, who are outcasts as well, due to being Jewish, nerdy, “fat”, and Japanese. Will anything ever go right for her or will she always live her life in constant misery, especially being Muslim in a post 9/11 era? 

The novel will appeal to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, ever. The thing that makes it such a great novel is that it is funny, yet still sad, all whilst being entertaining- which is very hard to do. I’ve read the book at least seven times, but it never gets old or repetitive. The many different storylines tied up into one makes the book so interesting because not only are we following Amal’s journey, but her friends, and the world after the 9/11 attack.  

The novel will appeal to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, ever. Due to language, the book would be suitable for anyone 13+. 

Khadeeja F.

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