I am not a young adult in the sense of what age group this book was written for, but I am still a young person (in college). I read this book because I thought it would shed light on what it's like to be Muslim growing up in the U.S. The author did illuminate my view, though not as much as I'd hoped.
I didn't like how each character fits the profile of a distinct personality type and that everything has a happy ending. I also found the characters of Amal and her friends to be too idealistic and dramatic for teenagers, and the way they expressed themselves often felt forced or childish. They said things like, "Sheesh," "Hunk of a guy," and "Boy, you have got guts!" Real kids or real people for that matter do not talk like that unless they're acting in an educational video, in my opinion. Amal could be very immature and rude at times, and I didn't find myself connecting with her as a character. She would have been more believable as a middle school student than one almost ready to go to college.
The book taught the key lesson that it's important to do what you want no matter what others think of you. On the other hand, this book failed to discuss WHY Muslim women wear the hijab (or why Orthodox Jewish women wear the sheital, also mentioned) and instead left me with the explanation that it's just a "piece of material" to symbolize someone's faith.
Amal seemed overly concerned with what people thought of her, going so far as to make a list of "OK people" and "Not so OK people" to wear the hijab in front of. She and her friends were obsessed with making themselves look beautiful through their clothes, makeup and type of hijab they wore. In addition, Amal had a huge crush on Adam and was constantly checking him out, swooning over his every move, flirting and even thinking about what it would be like to kiss him. These actions didn't make sense to me given that she was wearing the hijab (though I could be wrong since I'm not Muslim). She definitely leads Adam on, though, and when he makes a move on her, she immediately jumps back and explains that she can't do anything even though her actions say the complete opposite. Based on the way Amal thought in the book, I felt she was the type of person who would have kissed Adam in that situation. Amal was proudly wearing her faith with the hijab, but her actions didn't show that she believed in it.
I was desperate to know why Amal had so much trust in Allah and her faith. She went through the motions of her religion, doing certain things Allah said, but she didn't explain why it was important to her that she did. I also wish she'd discussed some of the Koran passages she was so immersed in reading every day. I don't believe being a religious teenager is super common, but the author depicted Amal as just a typical teenager when she was, in fact, different because of her decision to be religious.
What I did like was how the book shows how vividly scared Amal is to wear the hijab because of how it changes the way people look at her. Instead of seeing a person, people at first seem to see just a sign that reads, "I am Muslim," and I think this is very true in society. She faced harassment and discrimination and was even rejected by some family and friends. It's important that we recognize the struggle that Amal goes through as well as all the Muslims out in the real world. I also thought it was eye-opening how differently each set of Muslim parents approached their daughter's demonstration of her faith. Even if people practice the same religion, that doesn't mean they interpret it in the same way.
The book discusses important lessons, but I'm not sure it goes about them all in the right way. I would recommend this as a good read for kids (maybe around the sixth grade?) because of the many adolescent issues discussed like peer pressure, racism, eating disorders, acceptance, etc. For students at an older age, I think they might easily recognize how many different issues were forced into the book and feel as if they're being preached to. (Please take my review with a grain of salt since I'm a college student and not from the age group this book is meant for.)
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