Fatima Benmimoun, "Does My head Look Big in This."

Book Review By Fatima Benmimoun.
 

She gently wrapped the smooth silky cotton around her head, once then twice around. She pinned it. She looked up and saw her face. So different. Her face lit up with joy as she looked at her reflection. She could hardly recognize her self. The real question was what about her friends. What will they think of her, what about Adam. What is he going to say will he ever talk to her again? The book talks about Amal’s life experiences about wearing the hijab, Learning from her mistakes and getting closer to her religion as well as knowing who her true friends are, as well as knowing when its the right time to embrace her faith even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

    Sixteen-year-old Amal Mohamed Nasrullah Abdel-Hakim is the main protagonist of the story. She is an Australian Palestinian-Muslim girl who lives in Melbourne which is located in the southern part of Australia which is the overall setting, but it also takes place at school at McCleans Preparatory School, Amal debates about wearing the hijab (the religious Muslim head covering) as a full timer (meaning that she would have to wear it in front of males who weren't immediate family). Especially as a junior it takes a lot of courage to wear the hijab, and that’s the main problem in the story. The book talks about Amal’s life experiences about wearing the hijab, Learning from her mistakes and getting closer to her religion as well as knowing who her true friends are, as well as knowing when its the right time to embrace her faith even if it does make her a little different from everyone else.

My reaction to the book first was very negative but then as I started reading I could not let go of it. I just wanted to keep reading, it was addicting, very. The book reminded me and my everyday life as an American Muslim, I could relate to how the main character reacted most of the time. And as I’m writing this at the moment I’m pretty sure every American Arab who decides to wear the headscarf always encounters what Amal encountered such as the looks people give you as you walk by them, how people slowly start backing away as if you're about to do something bad, and when you just want to give a smile to a stranger and they just look at you and give you their back, that sucks. But when I meet a person who’s totally nothing of what I expected it brings such delight that someone actually smiled back, it lights up my world, But the feeling you get when a person smiles back just overjoyes me so much, I actually don't feel any different from everyone else and I totally forget the fact that I’m wearing the hijab, It actually makes me feel as if I belong here. And I think that's what I could relate with Amal.

     Honorable Mention:

 1. Perfect You, By Elizabeth Scott

 2. Shiver, By Maggie Stiefvater

 3. The summer I turned pretty, By Jenny

 4. Fever 1793, By Laurie Halse Anderson

 5. Star Girl, By Jerry Spinelli