by Seemi Aziz
The books to the left portray the identity formation of individual characters as they adjust to new and challenging environments.
Going Over by Kephart is a heartfelt novel about a girl and a boy living in the divided Berlin in February 1983. There are barricades and a wall separating east from west. Ada lives among the protesters, and immigrants of Kreuzberg in West Berlin. Stefan lives in East Berlin, in a nondescript apartment bunker of Friedrichshain. The separation between the two sides is merely 165 feet. The characters are bound by love and strong family ties but are separated by their circumstance. The only way out is to leap on a zipline from east to west on a steel cable and wooden rollers.
It is Ada who travels from west to east and is the daring one. She risks her life and health for meeting her lover. Stephan, on the other hand, never does even though Ada implores with all her heart.
The significance is in the difference presented in the two sides of life in the same city. The oppressed role of Stephan is reflective of the lifestyle in the west while Ada is free in her own self and her life in the East. Both characters suffer due to their courage and lack of it. The language of the book is poetic and beautiful and draws the reader in. National Book Award finalist Beth Kephart presents a story of valiant sacrifice and triumph of love.
The next two novels are in verse form, an interesting way of writing novels that is age old as we have all read Shakespeare and the various heroic tales in verse, but are coming back in fashion representing realistic fiction. It is becoming a prominent subgenre of novel writing within the last few years.
In Caminar by Skila Brown, Carlos is a young boy who knows that when the soldiers come with warnings about the Communist rebels, it may be time to grow up fast and defend the village, so as to keep everyone safe. His Mama, on the other hand, tells him not to do so as yet. She considers him to be her quiet moonfaced boy. The soldiers make fun of the villagers and kill before they move on. A neighbor is found dangling from a tree, a sign on his neck: Communist after they leave. Mama instructs him to run and hide first and then try to find her. Numb and alone, he joins a band of guerillas as they trek to the top of the mountain where Carlos’s abuela lives. He knows he needs to warn them about the soldiers. This novel is inspired by actual events during Guatemala’s civil war; Caminar is the poignant story of a boy who loses nearly everything before discovering his own strength and identity. This is a tale of walking from childhood to adulthood. Caminar means ‘to walk’ and that is exactly what young Carlos. Leaving all that was familiar and moving into the unknown was a journey that makes him more confident in his abilities and self.
In The Red Pencil by Andrea Pinkney is a story set in a peaceful Sudanese village where twelve year old Amira is finally old enough to wear a toob, and for new responsibilities. She is excited about the fact that she may go to school in Nyala. But life in her village is shattered when the Janjaweed arrive. The attackers destroy the town and unleash appalling horrors. After she loses nearly everything, Amira needs to dig deep within herself to find the strength to make the long journey. She travels on foot to a refugee camp for safety. Her life and days are rough at the camp. She then receives a gift of a simple red pencil, which opens new worlds and possibilities to her. New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney’s verse/words and Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist Shane W. Evans’s illustrations combine to tell an inspirational account of one girl’s victory against all odds.
Both of the above-mentioned novels-in-verse are strong narratives representing present day upheavals that young children are forced to go through. The journeys they undertake makes them stronger but also lets the world see a different lifestyle and realm that can wake them up to that face that there are regions which are dissimilar but it is through a positive spirit that these characters overcome their negative circumstances. However on a side, Pinkney’s representation of Muslims is typical as Amira is poor, oppressed, uneducated (dreaming of education), and displaced and her counterparts of Janjaweed are men that are oppressive and terrifying.
The next novel is a fantasy set in Middle East. It has all the workings of typical story that reinforces stereotypes of Muslims. In The Fire Wish by Amber Lough is about two female characters being raised in very different settings but come together due to some unexpected circumstances. Najwa is a jinn, training to be a spy in the war against the humans. Zayele is a human forced on her way to marry a prince of Baghdad. She’ll do anything to avoid this wedding. She manages to capture Najwa and makes her grant her a wish. Her wish is to go home but all goes wrong when she words it in a way that they fall apart and re-form as each other. Here a jinn and a human trade lives, which is unheard of. Both girls must play their parts among enemies who would kill them if the deception were ever discovered by foes including the young men Najwa and Zayele might love. They later discover that they are twins and that by wishing upon jinn by jinn Zayele has done a deep wrong and that Najwa cannot get out of this in any way until her sister releases her. There are scenes of sword wielding fights and characters going up in smoke along with jinns disappearing and reappearing at unexpected moments. It reads like a movie in other words.
Both the characters represent a certain faction that is at war with each other. As they trade places they discover that each of them were not evil at all and that their lives are nothing like they had imagined. Ironically it is the Jinn that one comes away relating to and the Muslim humans are presented as evil, devious, and oppressive. It is the humans who are keeping the jinn underground in a restrictive realm from where they cannot breakout.
The author Amber Lough takes bits of Alladin, Middle East and Islam and concocts a story that is merely a simplistic love story. She uses words like Allah, Shaitan, Jinn etc. that refer to the religion with nothing that makes sense to a Muslim. Had she written this story and not included details of Muslims or their religion and had stuck to Disney version it may have been better.
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- Themes: Seemi Aziz
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, Student Connections, WOW Currents