(2) YA Baheer, an Afghan teen, faces a hardscrabble life under the Taliban, while post-9/11 American high-school senior Joe's college plans are put on pause as he begins his military tour. Joe's desire for retribution wanes when he is assigned a reconstruction mission instead of fighting on the front lines. As the boys' paths cross, mistrust clouds their judgment, but an unlikely friendship emerges through their shared experiences of war's gruesome realities. They realize their interdependence: Baheer hopes to improve his English and find work, while Joe seeks to write about the "unbiased truth" of war. Writing in alternating points of view, the co-authors draw on their real-life friendship (further explored in appended authors' notes) to tell a touching story about differences and finding common ground. Though regional geopolitics are rendered in easy binaries that gloss over America's role in the rise of the Taliban, the story effectively focuses on those most affected by violent conflict and the characters' shift in perspective from prejudice to openness. Joe's reading of war literature leads him to realize the common hardships people face in a war zone, while Baheer's engagement with Persian classics, Afghan poetry, and Quranic verses help him understand the humanity of all people. Through their individual reflections, they come to understand that education is the key to rebuilding a society, and they work together toward this goal.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) YA Elhillo's strikingly original novel in searingly honest, staccato verse, nearly all in lowercase, showcases the difficult realities of working-class immigrant families. Nima is a sensitive Muslim teenager, daughter of an immigrant mother, whose life is marked by the absence of a father she never knew, of friends (except one), and of belonging and feeling at home. Haunted by "sepia"-tinted memories "of a country i've never seen / outside a photograph," bullied at school, and excluded by her Arabic-speaking peers, she grapples with a series of what-ifs. A "nostalgia monster" hungry for old photographs and retro Arabic music and films, Nima yearns for a different life, one lived in her imagination as her "ghost self," Yasmeen. When her only friend is hospitalized after a hate crime, she goes into a tailspin. In a magical realism sequence, she encounters corporeal Yasmeen and travels through space and time to see her parents together, uncovering truths that help recalibrate her life. While Elhillo's novel draws on her Sudanese heritage, she leaves the family's country of origin unnamed. Her richly imagined settings bring into sharp focus the nuances of a fractured identity in many diasporic communities. An immersive experience of the intersectionality of gender, class, race, religion, and identity.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) YA Faruqi's evocative immigrant story in verse follows a young girl from the "land of the pure" to the "land of the free." Thirteen-year-old Nurah Haqq and her family move from Karachi, Pakistan, to Peachtree City, Georgia, seeking better opportunities. Nurah wrestles with her growing teenage insecurities, cultural and faith-based hurdles, and difficulty fitting in. As she observes the struggles and triumphs of her family, she begins to reshape her life. Each new section (e.g., "Uprooting," "Replanting"), decorated in floral henna patterns, reflects her state of mind. Slowly, the familiarity of math, art, and swimming as well as a blossoming friendship help her shed her hesitancy and embrace change. Though a lapse into jealousy leads to a poor decision, she learns to stand up for herself and others. Faruqi's expressive use of free verse folds many disparate ideas of friendship, sibling rivalry, bullying, and terrorism into an ultimately heartwarming story. While other ­Muslim stories in verse, such as Other Words for Home (rev. 7/19) by Jasmine Warga and The Red Pencil (rev. 11/14) by Andrea Davis Pinkney, deal with immigrant refugees, Faruqi focuses on privileged immigrants whose model minority status doesn't insulate them from hate crime and Islamophobia. Nurah's coming-of-age story will inspire ­readers to step into their own light.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Fahmida Azim. "Water can trick us," believes eleven-year-old Samira, recounting how the river had swallowed her grandparents as her family fled persecution in Burma. As unregistered Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, mired in poverty, resented by locals, and under constant fear of deportation, Samira's family lives in the shadows. Selling snacks on the beach to support her loved ones, Samira feels the acute loss of home, family, and c­ommunity. As she befriends other girls like her, and they learn to surf in secret, her relationship to water changes from ­trepidation to exhilaration. When she decides to take part in a surfing competition, Samira must navigate stringent gender norms; happily, the girls band together to uplift one another. Interspersed with black-and-white sketches, the spare verse contrasts Samira's carefree past and her present-day reality. Exploring fear and freedom in equal measure, the author presents a complex picture by relating the historical oppression and political exclusion of the Rohingya with Samira's trauma and the challenges of resettlement. Samira's ability to be both "grateful and angry" gives her a multifaceted personality that draws readers' empathy. Samira's story (one of few that highlight the plight of the Rohingya refugee community; see also the 2019 picture book The Unexpected Friend) is a testament to how inner courage and the spirit of sisterhood can help brave any storm.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Indian American Sonali keeps her emotions to herself. She maintains a stoic demeanor in order to protect her younger brother from her parents' constant arguments, and she attempts to unite the family with weekly Bollywood movie nights. When her parents announce a trial separation and her best friend grows closer to the popular girl at their Los Angeles middle school, Sonali's feelings bubble to the surface and break out as "Bollywooditis." In this alternate reality, her entire life is a Bollywood movie, and as such her emotions are on full display in disruptive musical solos she can't help singing at inopportune moments. A horrified Sonali attempts to tamp down her personal soundtrack, garish makeovers, and coordinated background dancers, to no avail. It is only when she faces up to the reality of her parents' divorce and communicates her pent-up feelings that the "filmi magic" fades. Kelkar creates sympathetic characters burdened by family secrets, cultural expectations, and bottled-up emotions. She deftly draws out the impact divorce can have on friendships, schoolwork, and a child's inner life. The heaviness of these themes is lightened by Bollywood touches, which also explore the seesaw effect of both loving and cringing at one’s culture.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) PS Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan. In this beautifully rendered study of contrasts and commonalities, Dairman imagines a girl and boy from two different biomes in India. Split pages portray the girl going about her day collecting firewood with her family, embroidering patterns with her grandmother, and eating family meals under the desert sky (the back matter indicates that the community is the Rabari nomadic tribe). The yellows of the girl's dusty surroundings contrast with the lush greens and blues of the boy's village environment. As heavy monsoon clouds threaten to burst, he attends to his day--going to school, herding goats with his grandfather, and splashing in muddy puddles. As the weather brings about sandstorms (for the girl) and floods (for the boy), both families are forced to move to higher ground--where the children finally meet. Intersecting panels highlight their parallel stories, while the spare rhyming text complements the arresting visuals. This book not only examines climate change through the eyes of communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the weather, but also provides a starting point for conversations on gendered roles as well as about migration as a form of survival--and how our lives are interconnected. The back matter notes ­Sreenivasan's research, including ­community members' input into making the book.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(2) 4-6 Issues of home and belonging form the cornerstones of Faruqi's (author of the Yasmin early chapter books) first solo middle-grade novel. Mimi and her mother (her father left the family when Mimi was very young) are on a "forced vacation" from Houston to Pakistan to visit Mimi's only-seen-on-Skype grandparents. There she meets Sakina, the family cook's daughter, who dreams of a future that hinges on passing an English test to secure admission to school. The girls' initial hesitation gives way to a tentative friendship through summer afternoons spent learning English and Urdu, tasting mangoes, dealing with errant centipedes, and exploring Karachi together. Mimi, already at odds with her mother, is privy to Mom's prickly relationship with her own parents, and the family drama is heightened as secrets about Mimi's father are revealed. Told through the girls' alternating points of view, the novel examines contemporary urban Pakistan in all its complexity. Faruqi threads issues of privilege, poverty, democracy, and the meaning of family throughout the book. She manages to convey the realities of Sakina's hardscrabble life and Mimi's sense of abandonment without being heavy-handed. The author's note and glossary give a sense of Faruqi's personal connection to the city and its characters.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Khoa Le. Loneliness engulfs a young girl in her new life in America, where a roomful of toys and a loving aunt and uncle do little to dispel her homesickness. One day, her aunt tells her a folktale about Persians forced from their homeland seeking ­refuge in India. The Indian king, hesitant to host foreigners, pours a glass of milk and fills it to the brim to indicate that his kingdom is full. Disappointment ripples through the weary travelers. But their clever leader adds a spoonful of sugar to the glass and mixes it without spilling a drop, silently conveying the message that "just like sugar in milk, we will sweeten your lives with our presence." Having won over the king, the travelers, known as Parsis, are welcomed to their new home. The tale her aunt tells shifts the young girl's perspective, and she begins to open herself to her "new and magical homeland." This story of new beginnings, lushly illustrated, celebrates the threads of kindness and ­humanity that bind us together. ­Umrigar's text gracefully alternates between the ­contemporary U.S. of the girl's story and the ancient world of the folktale, incorporating both pathos and humor; Le's art, with its intricate mosaics and brilliant jewel tones, evokes setting and emotion. A border with dynamic swirls of vines as well as a contrasting typeface sets off the story-within-a-story with clarity. Images of the prophet ­Zoroastra and the deity Ahuramazda suggest that the girl's family, like the author, are Parsis.

Reviewer: Sadaf Siddique | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021