Reviewed by Abrita Kuthumi and Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Every day after school, Priya and her grandmother, Babi Ba, make rotli (flatbread). Every day, Priya asks, “What is India like?”and Babi Ba describes the smells, sights, and tastes of her beloved homeland. One winter, Priya notices her grandmother gazing at […]
When a Brown Girl Flees
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: When a Brown Girl Flees is a thought provoking, contemporary young adult novel where author Aamna Qureshi seamlessly invests readers in her protagonist’s journey of healing from all-consuming grief to rediscovery and self-love. Eighteen-year-old Zahra Paracha makes the biggest decision of her life after graduation […]
Saving Sunshine
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Saving Sunshine is a contemporary graphic novel that makes issues such as Islamophobia and covert racism accessible for a middle grade audience. Zara and Zeeshan can’t remember the last time they had anything in common — they’re the epitome of opposite twins. Neither one of […]
Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: This is a moving and thought-provoking middle grade historical novel set in British-occupied India in 1857. On the day before Meera’s 13th birthday, she’s expected to move into her husband’s home with his family, as is the Indian custom, but in a twist of fate, […]
Fatima’s Great Outdoors
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Fatima is having a hard time adjusting to her new life in the United States and is looking forward to camping, what her Papa calls “a great American pastime,” (p. 2) as a means of escaping from the bullying and isolation she experiences in her […]
Home Is in Between
Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Mitali Perkins’ words paired with Lavanya Naidu’s art aptly captures an immigrant’s exhausting reality of living in between two spaces and cultures in this picture book for early elementary children. Perkins says in her author’s note, “The space between cultures doesn’t have to be a […]