S. K. Ali

You may recognize the author’s name from her success at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she earned the bronze medal competing for the American fencing team (while wearing a hijab). Ibtihaj Muhammad was born and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, and is of African American descent. Her parents converted to Islam and raised their five children as Muslims. S.K. Ali is an award-winning author of books for young adults.

This picture book for ages 4-10 tells the story of Faizah, a little girl who show more is about to get her first hijab. Her mother suggests she choose pink, but Faizah wants a blue hijab matching the one worn by her sister Asiya. Faizah reasons:

“Asiya’s hijab isn’t a whisper.
Asiya’s hijab is like the sky on a sunny day.
The sky isn’t a whisper.
It’s always there, special and regular.”

Asiya has gotten teased and bullied because of her hijab, but Mama helps shore up her confidence, explaining:

“Some people won’t understand your hijab… But if you understand who you are, one day they will too.”

Mama also advises Asiya:

“Don’t carry around the hurtful words that others say. Drop them. They are not yours to keep. They belong only to those who said them.”

Faizah can’t wait to wear the same hijab as Asiya: “Saying I’ll always be here, like sisters. Like me and Asiya.”

The author, in an Afterword, explains that she too was bullied as a child for wearing the hijab. She writes:

“You wouldn’t think that a simple headscarf could cause such commotion, but throughout my childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, it has. It isn’t easy, and I’m sure girls today face the same treatment - or worse - than what I faced.”

Thus she was inspired to write this story to help children in the same position see kids like themselves in a picture book, and read about feeling pride in wearing a hijab. She wants them to hear "that the parts of ourselves that might make us appear ‘different’ are worth celebrating.”

She concludes:

“My hijab is part of me - it’s a testament to my faith and love of Allah. . . . My hijab is beautiful. To the young girls out there reading this story who are hijabis: So is yours.”

S.K. Ali added in an interview about the book:

"THE PROUDEST BLUE is an exploration of the pride, warmth and happiness that many Muslim girls feel, twinned with the reality of a world that doesn’t accept that this could be the case. . . . . this constant internal turmoil didn’t and doesn’t now erase the beauty we found in being Muslim, and the strength we developed in sustaining that belief in an increasingly hostile world.

That’s why THE PROUDEST BLUE ends on a note of the kind of gutsy resilience that’s carried Ibtihaj and I and all our sisters in the faith to who we are today as strong women, women who don’t let others dictate the terms of our happiness."

The illustrator, Hatem Aly, uses a style reminiscent of comics and graphic novels. His ink-wash and watercolor artwork cleverly shows the bullies only as faceless silhouettes, while the sisters stand out as well-defined in their strength.

Evaluation: Bullying by children aimed at those perceived to be “different” for any reason remains common and often devastating to those on the receiving end. Books like this may help increase the resilience of those who are attacked and the understanding of those who aren't. The story also is commendable for showing the importance of the loving support of family members. show less

For me, this book was an incredible window into the life of a Muslim American teenager, Zayneb, who is suspended from school after "threatening" her teacher Mr. Fencer, an Islamophobe. Zayneb and her friends Ayaan and Kavi have been tracking Fencer's online activity and are planning and hoping to get him fired, but Zayneb's suspension derails their plans (temporarily). Zayneb's Auntie Nandy invites her to come visit her in Doha, and on her connecting flight from London to Doha, Zayneb sees show more Adam for the first time - and he sees her.

Adam is wrestling with his own problems: he's been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and hasn't yet told his father or his younger sister, Hannah; Adam and Hannah's mom died of MS when Hannah was a baby.

What ties the two together? ("We keep meeting" -Hamilton) They each, incredibly, have been keeping a "Marvels and Oddities" journal for years, cataloging beautiful and strange things about their worlds. They are also connected through Auntie Nandy, who teaches at the school Adam went to, and was best friends with his mother.

Slowly, the two build a friendship, and work through the obstacles (self-made and otherwise) in their path ("This is a love story. You've been warned" comes after the dedication and before the first page). Islam is a big part of both of their lives, and a non-Muslim will become familiar with several aspects of the faith that are often lost in Western narrative.

"Trouble is part of changing things. Since when have you seen a trouble-free change for the better?" (Auntie Nandy, 313) show less

This book was a nice surprise. I'm really glad my local library actually recommended this for me. I got both the audiobook as well as the digital version so I can read both in parallel.

I was a little surprised at how the writing style differed from story to story. I had expected them to be told from different perspectives, but would still flow similarly. But each story really stood out on its own.

The one nitpick I have was the comic that was in the middle. Don't get me wrong, I loved the show more artstyle and the story. It just didn't feel like it belonged there. It especially stands out in the audiobook. You wouldn't really understand much if you only got the audiobook as it's mostly sound effects being read by the voice actor. Unlike the rest of the stories, it's also more of a folk tale or a fairy tale. I would love to read this and other similar comics but in their own thing. Perhaps an illustrated book of ramadan and eid folk tales from around the world? That would be wonderful!

Overall, though, I really enjoyed the book. Hearing about the Eid traditions and experiences from all around the world really warmed my heart. It's a great read for muslims that are getting into the Eid spirit as well as curious non-muslims. I know for a fact that I'll be listening to some of the stories as part of Eid each year now. show less

In a Nutshell: A fabulous OwnVoices middle-grade anthology with all stories connected to Eid in some way or the other. Excellent plots and characters and diversity. I loved how much it surprised me and taught me. Much, much recommended!

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For a reading challenge I am participating in, I needed a book set around any festival. I knew for sure that I would not take a book connected to Christmas – I have already read plenty of them and I am tired of seeing Christmas books show more be more about parties and Santa and gifts than about prayer and church and community. So when I found this anthology, its beautiful cover, the classic “Once Upon A…” in a title and the joyous tagline won my heart. The content proved to be even better.

This collection of fifteen stories is OwnVoices in every way. Each contributing author, including the editors and the illustrator, is a practising Muslim, coming from a variety of ethnic and geographical backgrounds – USA, Australia, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Mandinka, and more. This results in an intricate tapestry of stories that shows the wealth and diversity of Islamic cultures across the globe. (My heart did a little dance of joy when I saw that the two editors – S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed – are of Indian and Pakistani origin respectively. I love seeing a harmonious connection between our two nations.)

The introductory note by the editors is so informative! (I had no idea that there were Muslim communities in China and Argentina! Sadly, no authors/stories from these locations were a part of the book.) The editors rightly point out, "The customs, diverse cultural markers, and family traditions are “insider experiences” seen only within our own communities." It made me realise that I barely know anything about how Eid is celebrated, beyond the basic facts.

This book is a great way of getting an insider look at Eid preparations and celebrations. However, the stories aren’t just about the commercial aspects of the festivities such as food or clothes or gifts, though these also get their rightful place. There is so much about actual Eid herein – the meaning of the festival, the rituals associated with it, the two types of Eid, the need for and requirements of fasting during Ramadan. I appreciate how the content offered a complete look at all aspects of the festival – religious as well as celebratory. Writers of Christmas books ought to take a page from this approach.

The stories are aimed at middle-graders, and hence the main protagonist in each of the tales is of middle-grade age. Combine this with the fact that the book is set around a festival, and I expected the stories to be easy-going, happy tales full of celebrations. But many of the stories cover tougher events as well. Parental illness, refugee issues, death, financial troubles, divorce, accidents – these aren’t ordinary topics for a festive anthology. But as the tagline reminds us, the book contains “stories of hope and joy”. Even these sadder tales end on a note of hope, as they rightly should considering the age of the target audience.

I love how the stories don't compromise on the vocabulary. There's no "dumbing down" of words just to cater to the middle-grade crowd. However, with many Eid-related Arabic words such as ‘fajr’ and ‘suhoor’, there should have been a glossary at the end particularly for such terms.

Of the fifteen stories, two are written in verse and one is in comic format. The comic was next to impossible to read on the Kindle as the font was too small and the graphics couldn’t be zoomed into. Kindle for Web came to my rescue this once.

Every story comes with one full-page B&W illustration just before it begins. These graphics are excellent, capturing the main mood of the story perfectly. Kudos to the illustrator!

The book ends with a delicious acknowledgements section that is full of mentions of Eid delicacies (Loved this idea!), followed by the contributor bios. (I wish these bios had been placed immediately after the story instead of at the end.)

As always, I rated the stories individually. Of the fifteen stories, six stories reached/crossed the 4-star mark. A majority of the remaining tales were clustered around 3-3.5 stars, with only two stories slipping below 3 stars. A highly satisfying performance! These were my top favourites:

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