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Proud in Her Hijab
Iman is teased at lunch one day by her classmates that do not understand what the hijab is and what it means. She goes home really upset and tells her family what happened. Iman’s mother, sister, and brother validate her feelings and help her see how she is not odd and has no reason to be ashamed of her hijab. They have a long conversation about each of their differences and how they each feel about their different hairstyles. Her mother reminds her that doing hair together is part of their family bonding and traditions.
Proud in Her Hijab: A Story of Family Strength, Empowerment, and Identity is a heartwarming picture book that will not only educate but help young girls feel confident in their choices. While this story focuses on a young Muslim girl wearing her hijab, the message does apply to all children because everyone is unique.
Author Zinet Kemal has written a beautiful children’s book in a way that is conversational, easy to understand, and relatable to children in elementary school. Kemal delicately approaches a difficult topic. Rather than just brushing it off after the family talks, Iman confronts her classmates to educate them and let them know their behavior is hurtful. Iman learns to take pride in her identity and speak up for herself, this is a great message to pass on to young children, especially girls.
This colorful picture book is illustrated by Mia Hay. The illustrations are bold and bright, and the characters are brought to life through these striking images. The combination of the fantastic illustrations and Kemal’s description of the hijab will draw in young readers and encourage them to learn more.
Proud in Her Hijab: A Story of Family Strength, Empowerment, and Identity is a well-conceived and educational picture book for young readers. This is an excellent resource for teachers and parents to teach about diversity and inclusion, different cultures, and kindness.
Pages: 36 | ASIN : B099NX1GTV
Black and White
![Black and White by [Burgess Jr., Ben]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Li9ed2kXL.jpg?resize=285%2C444&ssl=1)
This is a drama filled novel following the lives of four main characters who are all connected in different ways and share similar struggles. A modern day Romeo & Juliet novel but focused on interracial couples and the stigma and struggles they are forced to endure despite racism being a supposed thing of the past.
Set in a city filled with violent crime and heavily focused on the animosity that exists between black communities and the police, this story explores the stories from all points of views. From the courtroom of a major murder trial to a high-profile rape case and the subtle racism that exists in big city law firms, you will learn how to respect other people’s points of view after reading this compelling story.
Ben Burgess Jr. has written a fantastic book that makes you feel you are a fly on the wall of all the scenes. The author makes you feel like you are in the outcast communities actually feeling the struggle young black people feel on a daily basis. You can’t help but feel disgusted towards police at points in the story but then the next chapter has you feeling empathy for the police as you hear the same story from their point of view.
This all leads to a roller coaster of emotions as you watch the story unfold from different characters perspectives and you feel yourself torn between which person you should root for. The undertone throughout all sides of the story is the huge amount of prejudice both sides of an interracial couple have to deal with which is a sad reality that despite how far we have come as a society, we are still so judgmental of others even when it has no affect on us at all.
There are some graphic sexual scenes that, for this story, are necessary to make the story truly feel real and believable. Although you feel uncomfortable reading them, I think that is the exact feeling the author was hoping because the truth of sexual crime is harsh and hard to swallow.
This is a novel begging to be turned into a movie or TV show or at the very least will have many novels written in the series because once you reach the end of the book you have become so enthralled by the tale you don’t want to say goodbye to your new found friends and want to see where their journey through life takes them next. The world needs more stories like this to continue to bridge the gap between races.
Pages: 340 | ASIN: B0732MBZQB
