"More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere."
Bibliographic Data: Abdel-Fattah, Randa. Does My Head Look Big in This?. New York: Orchard Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0439922333
Plot Summary: Amal is your characteristic teenage girl trying to fit in with the other teens of her high school. However, she faces a unique challenge as she is a Plaestenian Muslim girl who has decided to wear a hijab in the post 9/11 world.
Critical Analysis:
This story is a must-read. Amal is just like her peers in that she likes boys, watches popular television series (Friends), struggles to fit in, labors over the pillars and expectations in her faith and with getting along with her parents, and tries to find strength in friendships and her faith.
The book is quipy, smart, and non-didactic which is so important for a book on a sensitive topic to appeal to teens (or anyone really!) Randa Abdel-Fattah tells this story, and as she is also a Muslim living in Australia, there is even more of a sense of sincerity authenticity in this story. She discusses the discrimination, prejudice, and stares from her peers. She addresses that she is sometimes fearful, but mainly that people will not understand or like her. It addresses parental expectations, and standing up for one’s self. It is a good read, although a bit repetitive at times.
Reviews:
Booklist- Like the author of this breakthrough debut novel, Amal is an Australian-born, Muslim Palestinian "whacked with some seriously confusing identity hyphens." At 16, she loves shopping, watches Sex and the City, and IMs her friends about her crush on a classmate. She also wants to wear the hijab, to be strong enough to show a badge of her deeply held faith, even if she confronts insults from some at her snotty prep school, and she is refused a part-time job in the food court (she is "not hygienic"). Her open-minded observant physician parents support her and so do her friends, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, secular. Her favorite teacher finds her a private space to pray. The first-person present-tense narrative is hilarious about the diversity, and sometimes heartbreaking. For her uncle who wants to assimilate, "foreign" is the f-word, and his overdone Aussie slang and flag-waving is a total embarrassment. On the other hand, her friend Leila nearly breaks down when her ignorant Turkish mom wants only to marry her daughter off ("Why study?") and does not know that it is Leila's Islamic duty "to seek knowledge, to gain an education." Without heavy preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere. Rochman, Hazel
People-"[A] witty, sensitive debut . . ."
Booklist- "More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere."
Connections:
Ask students to share unique things about themselves or their families that other students may not know.
Encourage everyone to tell one another one thing they like about each person.
Have the student write a journal topic on an embarrassing thing that they worry about.
Plot Summary: Amal is your characteristic teenage girl trying to fit in with the other teens of her high school. However, she faces a unique challenge as she is a Plaestenian Muslim girl who has decided to wear a hijab in the post 9/11 world.
Critical Analysis:
This story is a must-read. Amal is just like her peers in that she likes boys, watches popular television series (Friends), struggles to fit in, labors over the pillars and expectations in her faith and with getting along with her parents, and tries to find strength in friendships and her faith.
The book is quipy, smart, and non-didactic which is so important for a book on a sensitive topic to appeal to teens (or anyone really!) Randa Abdel-Fattah tells this story, and as she is also a Muslim living in Australia, there is even more of a sense of sincerity authenticity in this story. She discusses the discrimination, prejudice, and stares from her peers. She addresses that she is sometimes fearful, but mainly that people will not understand or like her. It addresses parental expectations, and standing up for one’s self. It is a good read, although a bit repetitive at times.
Reviews:
Booklist- Like the author of this breakthrough debut novel, Amal is an Australian-born, Muslim Palestinian "whacked with some seriously confusing identity hyphens." At 16, she loves shopping, watches Sex and the City, and IMs her friends about her crush on a classmate. She also wants to wear the hijab, to be strong enough to show a badge of her deeply held faith, even if she confronts insults from some at her snotty prep school, and she is refused a part-time job in the food court (she is "not hygienic"). Her open-minded observant physician parents support her and so do her friends, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, secular. Her favorite teacher finds her a private space to pray. The first-person present-tense narrative is hilarious about the diversity, and sometimes heartbreaking. For her uncle who wants to assimilate, "foreign" is the f-word, and his overdone Aussie slang and flag-waving is a total embarrassment. On the other hand, her friend Leila nearly breaks down when her ignorant Turkish mom wants only to marry her daughter off ("Why study?") and does not know that it is Leila's Islamic duty "to seek knowledge, to gain an education." Without heavy preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere. Rochman, Hazel
People-"[A] witty, sensitive debut . . ."
Booklist- "More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere."
Connections:
Ask students to share unique things about themselves or their families that other students may not know.
Encourage everyone to tell one another one thing they like about each person.
Have the student write a journal topic on an embarrassing thing that they worry about.