Biography

I get in the mood to get out of my paranormal kick and try something that is deep and heartfelt. I loved this. I had been searching for more books about oppressed women.

The story was very elementary and I'm sure skipped a lot of the brutality, which is good if this was for a younger audience; but nowhere is this indicated. I'm sure this was a horror for Nujood as it still is for many young women around the world. This was a success story as one lone attorney spoke to her on the street. Most young women don't have this opportunity. I would prefer a book with more meat, but not sad that I read it. 194 pages ( )

I really wanted to like this book but I felt that it needed so much more. I mean, it was her story but it was so short and such light reading. I finished the book in 2 hours. There could have been so much more background into the culture of a society that married their girls off at age 9. There was so much co-author influence in the book that I had a hard time believing in some of the statements made by Nujood. Is that really the way a 9 year old thinks? ( )

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui (pp 188). This is the story of a nine year old Yemeni girl, Nujood, who was married off to a man thrice her age. Despite promising her father to not begin marital relations with his daughter until at least a year after her first period, that delay did not occur. Instead, she had sex on the night of her wedding, was routinely physically abused by her husband, and mistreated by her in-laws. Amazingly, she ran away to a court and obtained assistance in getting a divorce at age 10. Unfortunately, this story is mostly written from a first person perspective, which given her age and illiteracy does not, to me, come across as her voice. However, Nujood’s story is important and is more important than how it was conveyed. It also lacks sufficient background about Yemeni practices, laws, and society, and there is no real explanation why or how her cause was taken up by the lawyers and judges who supported her. She, apparently, became an international figure in the 1980s, something I somehow missed. Overall, despite its shortcomings, the books is well worth reading, which can easily be done in a day. ( )