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Loading... Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.by Medeia Sharif
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I've read several other YA books about adolescents dealing with acculturation issues. Born Confused comes to mind. Sadly, all we get here is a whiney adolescent with darker skin. She never moves forward. Her Islamic culture seems to only exist in her grandfather's negative comments and the after sundown pig-out dinners. No substance here; move along. ( ) Sharif's teenage heroine, Almira, is such a teenager, obsessed with pop culture, driving, and especially boys. The voice in this novel was flat out perfect: funny, clueless, yet totally heartfelt and true. As the title suggests, the book takes place over Ramadan, the first time Almira has ever observed the month-long fast. So even though it's a novel about a typical teenager, it's interspersed with reflections on discipline, religion, family, and what it means to be a 21st century American Muslim. I really loved this aspect of the book, as I got a whole new perspective that I don't believe I've ever seen tackled in YA fiction before. Plus, have I mentioned yet that it's laugh-out-loud funny? No one has angst like a 15 year-old who can't snack! no reviews | add a review
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HTML: No pizza. No boyfriend. (No life.) Okay, so during Ramadan, we're not allowed to eat from sunrise to sunset. For one whole month. My family does this every year, even though I've been to a mosque exactly twice in my life. And it's true, I could stand to lose a few pounds. (Sadly, my mom's hotness skipped a generation.) But is starvation really an acceptable method? I think not. Even worse, my oppressive parents forbid me to date. This is just cruel and wrong. Especially since Peter, a cute and crushable artist, might be my soul mate. Figures my bestest friend Lisa likes him, too. To top it off, there's a new Muslim girl in school who struts around in super-short skirts, commanding every boy's attention-including Peter's. How can I get him to notice me? And will I ever figure out how to be Muslim and American? Praise: "A humorous, hip look at the ups and downs of fasting for Ramadan within the context of intergenerational and cultural challenges." â??Kirkus Reviews "I love Almira Abdulâ??the honest, tell-it-like-it-is, funny, and very real main character of Medeia Sharif's wonderful, eye-opening debut." â??Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date "Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. deftly combines humor and poignancy with an authentic teen voice set against the multicultural background of vibrant Miami and Almira's loving yet strict Muslim family." â??Paula Yoo, author of Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds and Good Enough "I laughed out loud as Almira struggled to fit in with her traditional family as well as the rest of the world." â??Sydney Salter, author of My Big Nose and Other Natural Dis No library descriptions found. |
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