Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

 

Over the past week, I read Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. This novel is the realistic story about a Pakistani girl, Amal, who loves going to school and wants to become a teacher when she grows up. After her mother gives birth to another daughter and requires weeks of rest, though, Amal has to stay home to help out with housework and taking care of her younger sisters. When she goes to the market alone to take a break from her sisters for a little while and buy some fruits and vegetables, she offends the son of her village's powerful landlord by talking back to him. As her punishment, she has to leave her home to be an indentured servant in the landlord's household. Before she leaves, her father promises that he will come up with the money to get her home, but the longer she works as a servant, the more she wonders if she'll ever return home.

I enjoyed reading this novel because I related to Amal's love for school and thought she had a great relationship with her younger sisters. I loved that she dreamed to be a teacher even though women in Pakistan are expected to be homemakers and raise their children while their husbands work. Although I felt she was reckless for talking back to the Khan's son, Jawad Sahib, and taking back the pomegranate he wanted from her, at the same time I admired her for her courage. I felt really bad for her when she began her work as a servant because Jawad Sahib was known to be cruel and never showed her any compassion. Amal also had to deal with a servant who was jealous of her, but there were glimmers of hope. The Khan's wife, Nasreen Baji, showed her kindness and Amal befriended a younger girl and taught her how to read. As I read the book, I was eager to learn how Amal would return to her family and I was pleasantly surprised when justice was served. At the end of the book, there is an author's note discussing the novel's inspiration, Malala Yousafzai and other brave girls around the world who fight for justice. I would recommend this powerful book to anyone who supports feminism and wants to read a story about how people take a stand against inequality in another part of the world.

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

 

Last week, I read A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée. This realistic fiction novel is about a twelve-year-old girl, Shayla, who does not like getting into trouble. Beginning junior high school as a seventh grade student brings about many changes in her life, though. She is partnered with a boy she is afraid of in science class, she joins the track team, she has difficulty maintaining her relationships with her best friends over a crush, and her sister Hana is becoming more involved in Black Lives Matter. After she goes to a protest with her family, Shayla decides to join the Black Lives Matter movement, following in her sister's footsteps. As the school year goes on, Shayla realizes that it is worth breaking the rules and getting into a bit of trouble to do the right thing.

I really liked reading this book because it was funny at times and I enjoyed Shayla's growth throughout the book. Shayla wasn't perfect, but I could really tell that she was trying her best to get through a challenging school year, especially with a trial moving forward after a police offer shot a Black man. It gave me perspective reading about the injustices that African Americans face through the eyes of a girl in junior high school and I noticed how the book had many similarities with The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, which I read last year. I also felt bad for Shayla because she was caught in a hard place. She wanted to keep her friends from elementary school, but at the same time, some of her new classmates thought that she wasn't black enough. I definitely cheered Shayla on when she began to wear an armband to school to support Black Lives Matter. Overall, I thought that Shayla was very relatable and appreciated that the book had a hopeful and optimistic ending. Anyone who wants to read a story about friendship, growing up, injustice, and the challenges of junior high would enjoy this satisfying novel.