I bought this book to have in my class library for 7th graders, as I have had girls in my classes who are on their own journeys with wearing hijab--some just starting, some being teased, some unsure if it's really for them--and I just finished reading it through. Long review short, I really hope Priya Huq continues to write stories that boldly show hijabi characters because she has talent!
This is a wonderful story that makes you think. A young girl is a victim of a very brutal hate crime (her headscarf is violently torn from her head, taking a huge chunk of her hair with it), and she is shown realistically trying to make sense of herself afterwards. Because it's realistic, it doesn't really prescribe any "right" way to deal with trauma, which makes this a good story to read with an older child/teenager to talk about how Nisrin and her family (and friends) handle this trauma. (Side note: it was nice to see that both girls involved in the incident were seeing counselors and that this is not viewed as shameful.) There is also a lot of intergenerational trauma, as her mom and grandparents had to go through the Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Genocide. This does lead to messy situations with Nisrin's family not always having healthy ways of responding to Nisrin's coping methods and decision to wear hijab. Adults not always having the right answers is a fact of life, and this book can be a good way to show older children how adults have feelings and hurts, too, that can get in the way of making fair judgements.
The emotions in this story were so well shown through the drawings! Priya Huq is very good a drawing expressions and uses her brush to show a wide range of emotions through visual metaphors (🤭 My favorite was the spring flowers turning to autumn leaves to demonstrate hope/disappointment!). This helped to make the attack on the girls still feel rather visceral without resorting to overly graphic depictions of violence. I also appreciated the censorship of certain cuss words used, as this made the book an easier choice to put on my shelf for 7th graders (being realistic, nothing that was said in the book would be new to my kids' ears, but it helps for persuading admin and parents that the book is "safe" for kids).
To not spoil the ending, I will just say that I felt like it was a good place to end the book, but I hope the story continues in a sequel to show more of Nisrin's journey of self-discovery. It feels that there is more to tell about how this family moves forward after the inciting incident, and I'd love to see more of how Nisrin works out her faith.
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