Product Description
Introduction to the history, heritage, culture, and customs of Pakistani Americans. ... Read more

Product Description
Submissive, docile, exotic... These are the images of South Asian women living in the USA that are created and perpetuated by society and the media--images that define and limit the boundaries of identity formation for these women. This book enables them to speak out as they redefine themselves, their families, and their communities in their journey of exploration and growth and in forging a biocultural identity. Written by South Asian immigrant gender specialists, this collection of original essays explores women's experiences with immigration. The chapters span different generational, religious, and regional points of view and at the same time cover women's varied and often conflicting roles as mothers, homemakers, and professionals. Among aspects covered are whether the experiences of South Asian women differ from other women, they way in which their experiences are different from those of male immigrants, the impact of home culture on gender role expectation, and their way of dealing with these conflicting pressures. A significant and timely book on an important but under-researched phenomenon. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

new perspective from second generation
Emerging voices provided a glimpse into the experience and voice of the second generation of Asian Indian women.Each chapter introduced us toviews and beliefs that challenged the stereotypes we see elsewhere.This book was an excellent update to perspectives on the matters that impactwomen every day: marriage, dating, divorce, remarriage. ... Read more

Product Description
The race for the presidency is on, and Sameera’s dad is a contender.Sameera’s looking forward to some cool campaign perks: hobnobbing withcelebrities, meeting smart and hunky young voters, and getting a totalmakeover. The makeover succeeds in making her look more polished, butsome of the campaign staffers aren’t content to stop there. They think thecandidate’s dark-skinned, adopted daughter could hurt his chances if shedoesn’t "try to be more American." As the pressure builds, Sameera is forcedto choose: Will she hide behind a fake persona or speakup for her true self? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Just in time www.joyfulreality.blogspot.com
Here's a feel good book just in time for the election season.But it's more than just that.Perkins weaves an exquisite cultural sensitivity into her Presidential election drama, drawing on personal experience and what I can only describe as a really big heart.The characters: An adopted South Asian teen.A flower child mom who is a church-going political liberal!Her husband: the kindest, most tolerant Republican (since Abe Lincoln), but not a church goer.The opponent: Hill sans Bill, with a handsome son to boot.But the best character of all is Uncle Mohamed.I can't wait for him to reappear in the sequel.

And yes, there are "bad guys"--an over-the-hill (at 30!) media know-it-all, and the usual paparazzi.

While marketed as a teen novel, ADULTS WILL REALLY WANT TO READ THIS as an antidote to the evening news.Perkins is clearly anchored in reality, even as she tries to bring out the best in (nearly all) of her characters.

Such a Great Read!
You know that great feeling when you read a book for the first time and just fall in love with the character or the author? That's what happened to me when I read this book.No, I'm not fourteen, but if you haven't ever read children's or teen literature just for you, you might be missing out.Not only that, but occasionally reading what they are reading is a great way to connect with your teen or preteen.

Sixteen-year-old Sameera Righton is the adopted Pakistani daughter of white parents. Her father James Righton is running for President. Between boarding school and tagging along with her ambassador father, Sameera has lived much of her life abroad, and the campaign team thinks that she needs to look and act more "American." Sameera, or Sparrow, as she is known to her friends and family, is a typical American teen--she texts, she blogs, she's interested in sports, and well, yes she's glad that this makeover sponsored by her dad's campaign team might make her visible to the opposite sex. It's an inspiring book, because we get to see a teen on the cusp of adulthood who respects herself and stands up for herself. What mom doesn't want that for her own daughter? It reminds me a great deal of the movie The Princess Diaries (Special Edition) because it is an accurate portrayal of the many teens who don't choose an R-rated lifestyle or attitude, but are still modern and fun. ... Read more

Product Description
In First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, Sameera showed the United States it was ready for a Pakistani-born First Daughter. With her brains and bravado,White House. Fabulous! Right? Actually, it-s no fairy tale. The Secret Service and the paparazzi follow Sameera everywhere. She misses her friends-and even her school-back home. So Sameera decides to escape. Will she be able to pull it off, or will her plan backfire on the entire First Family? This smart and funny novel continues the adventures of a Pakistani- American teen in the spotlight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Enjoyed the book..wish it was longer
Only problem with the book is that it was too short. I found the characters interesting and endearing, and thought it was a good story. The First Family was terrific, and I hope that there are more novels from this author about this First Family.

Worthy Sequel To The First In The Series
In this second book in Mitali Perkins' First Daughter series, Sameera "Sparrow" Righton, the smart, articulate adopted Pakistani daughter of a Republican presidential candidate whose blog helped her father win, is back. This time, though, instead of trying to help out with her father's campaign, Sparrow is moving into the White House!

In White House Rules, Sameera is continuing to adjust to life in the spotlight. Even more than that, really; with the constant presence of the Secret Service, privacy is hard to come by when you're living in the White House. Aside from the fact that she's the President's daughter and dealing with all that comes along with that territory, Sameera also has normal teenage girl stuff to deal with-like guys. She and Bobby were getting really close before, but now he's mysteriously stopped calling.

White House Rules is a worthy sequel to the fun-yet-serious first book in the series, Extreme American Makeover. I felt like the characterizations also got better in this second novel, though Sameera is still a little too perfect to be real a lot of the time. Again, though, Mitali Perkins manages to deal with real, thought-provoking issues (like religious prejudices) in a really fun, quick read. Perkins is a good writer; the pacing and flow of her story are quite good. And it takes a talented author to have a book about romance, friendship, religion, politics, family, bigotry, and more, without any of it seeming odd or forced or out of place. I wasn't quite blown away by White House Rules, but it was an engaging read, if not exactly unforgettable. I'll look forward to book number three in this series, and, in the meantime, maybe look up some of Mitali Perkins' backlist.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too
In the second book of the FIRST DAUGHTER series, Sameera is unpacking boxes and exploring the White House with her cousin, Miranda. Sameera loves living in the White House. She gets to explore, learn to waltz, and she stills keeps writing in her blog.

But she's also beginning to realize that life in the White House may not be a fairy tale. Bobby, her friend and the guy she likes, stopped calling after her dad became President. When she learns it's because of religious beliefs, she's outraged, just as Bobby is.

There's also a comment left on her blog that leaves her wondering if she really could survive in the real world. She soon hatches a plan to find out -- and it seems that to make life a fairy tale, people have to be willing to take some chances.

To be honest, I love all of those movies about the President's daughter (Chasing Liberty especially), so I was sure I'd love a series of books about the First Daughter, too. I was right!

This book was great. Sameera is one of the best characters I've read about in a while. She's spirited and daring, but she's also honest and she knows when to stop. All of the other characters were amazing, too. WHITE HOUSE RULES is a fun, quirky read and I'd recommend it to anyone, even if you're not a fan of these types of movies.

Reviewed by:Harmony ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 6491 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Contains 8,000 to 12,000 word essays on specific culture groups in the United States, emphasizing religions, holidays, customs, and languages in addition to providing information on historical background and settlement patterns. Also covers ethnoreligious groups such as Jews, Chaldeans, and Amish. Each essay lists organizations and research centers; name, address, and contact information for periodicals, radio, and television stations; and a further readings section. ... Read more

Product Description
The linked stories in this collection take place in the Pakistani community of North America. Set primarily among a large extended family from Lahore, at the center of which is the young and sensitive Connecticut housewife Zenab. The different voices of the stories all converge upon the shaky, though no less exciting and wonderful world of the immigrant. That world is relentlessly evolving, at times amid protests and at times in surprising ways. Guilt walks hand in hand with nostalgia, the desire to stay never completely overcomes the longing to return. But ultimately, as Zenab says, "All is not lost, is it?" ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (18)

A much needed viewpoint, but weak on plot
I was excited to get a copy of this book, since there just isn't much fiction out there written from the perspective of Muslim American youth. And in that sense, the book definitely fulfilled its promise -- the author develops the character of Nina in a way that really pulls us in to the struggle she feels in wanting to fit in with her friends, while also trying to please her traditional Pakistani parents who are always comparing Nina to her "perfect" older sister.

So for me, the character development was great -- and truthfully, I think the book may be worth reading just for that alone -- but I just didn't feel like there was enough depth to the actual *story* to pull me along the way many books do. For me, there really isn't any one point during the book where I have any doubt that Nina will turn out just fine, and figure out how to find some happiness for herself. Truthfully, it felt a lot like the "cultural fiction" I remember being required to read in 7th-9th grade -- heavy on character, slow on plot.

Started Off Great But.......
This is a coming of age story with the main character being 16 year old Nina.Nina is going through the normal stages of teen angst and is also of Pakistani descent.Her parents do not allow her to date and unfortunately she is falling for a new classmate.Nina's older sister Sonia, who is now in college, is perfect so she has the pressure of following in her footsteps.And to top it off, Nina has a dark, hairy stripe down her back, hence the book title.This book started off great; I liked Nina's view on how she tries to navigate two cultures - her American culture and her Pakistani culture.She ends up rebelling against her Pakistani culture but then grudgingly comes to appreciate it.This book was good but fell flat at the end.

Teen Angst With Several Twists
Sheba Karim lends equal parts humor and poignancy to Nina's story. In some ways, this has all the familiar points of YA fiction - Nina is an outsider and has a crush on a boy and is misunderstood by her family. Yet she goes beyond anything standard as Nina deals with living in the shadow of her perfect sister, her best friends branching out into new social territory, and her crush who...actually likes her. One of the most moving parts of the book is Nina's refusal to see that Asher goes out of his way to show her attention. Watching Asher choose Nina over mean It girl Serena is one of the greatest pleasures of this book. Nina is a memorable character because she doesn't just sit around and feel sorry for herself; regarding her hairiness, the line of hair down her back making her think she's a "skunk girl," she tries to bleach it only to come away with her skin lightened. In this, any teenage girl will be able to relate to her.

She grapples with showing allegiance to her parents without letting them control, and thereby, ruin, her life. Karim makes her parents as overprotective as possible, and as a reader, I wanted Nina to defy them, but could also see clearly that they truly believed they were keeping her out of trouble, even if in the process they were also causing her to miss out on a lot of the fun of high school. When Nina muses that she wishes she were white, there is so much longing for a different kind of life in her, but her friend's boyfriend Anthony has an interesting answer that informs the rest of the book as Nina learns to appreciate her heritage without accepting wholesale the often bizarre to her rules of her family. An excellent YA novel that grapples with race, popularity, being a "good girl" and parental pressure, and yes, crushes.

Meet Nina
High school is hard enough, but add on the pressure of being the younger sister of a "Supernerd" as well as the only Asian or Muslim in her class and it's no wonder that Nina Khan feels a little out-of-sorts. Though Nina loves and appreciates her parents, she wishes they would let her have more of a social life. Though they are very kind, her parents are pretty strict when it comes to things like dating. She's now allowed to date, nor can she go to parties or school dances. When her friends are out and about on Saturday nights, Nina's expected to stay home and study.

The majority of residients in their little town of Deer Hook, New York are white. Nina and her older sister Sonia, who is now at college studying to become a doctor, are first-generation Pakistani-Americans. Her parents both came from middle-class families in Pakistan. They are intelligent, confident adults who regularly encourage their daughters to stay true to their Muslim values.

Since first grade, Nina has found solace in her two awesome best friends, Helena, a vibrant, ever-cheerful redhead, and Bridget, a tall blonde who is usually clumsy yet extremely graceful on the ski slopes. Now juniors in high school, the three girls are as close as ever. While Helena and Bridget can date whomever they like, Nina can't bring up the nerve to ask out Asher, the new boy on campus. Her tongue gets tied around him, and she knows her parents would disapprove of her dating an Italian boy.

Nina's first person narrative is insightful and allows the readers to learn of (and relate to) the fears and worries which she can't vocalize. Similar to the chapter markings in Everything Beautiful in the World by Lisa Levchuk, each brief chapter in Skunk Girl bears a title appropriate to the events which take place in that section's pages. The book's title comes from the stripe of hair Nina has running down the center of her back - something that her crush sees, much to her mortification, because it starts at the nape of her neck.

This is yet another YA novel I will recommend to both teens and adults. This recommendation is not only due to debut novelist Karim's heartfelt writing, but also because the story takes place in the early nineties and thus will definitely appeal to readers who were teens at that time. (The music references will bring you back there in a second. At home, Nina listens to a Smiths mix tape; when the song Jump Around plays during a big party scene, it will start playing in your head, too.)

Highly recommended.

Pretty Good
Overall, I really enjoyed this book.Its different and is about teenagers but stays away from tons of teen angst.However, I found the writing to be a bit shallow.I wanted more depth from the characters.The story was nice, but I didn't really see it being motivated by the characters at all, it just kind of happened. In the end this is a subtle book about prejudiced and sacrifice, which I feel could have been punched up a bit.It was a good read however, I just wanted more. ... Read more

Product Description
A Pakistani-American girl takes part in her aunt's traditional Pakistani wedding. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A Girl Overcomes Her Fears
Nadia has the duty of being the flower girl in a wedding, and two fears threaten her performance of this duty. The first is the fear of her friends' mocking her should she do something wrong or embarrass herself during the ceremony. The second is the fear of what the schoolchildren will do on Monday when they see the orange mehndi on her hands.

Her fears almost overcame her, but when she saw her extended family's happiness at her appearance, she was able to refocus and complete her task as the flower girl. She was able to accept her hands as her own.

The book is well-written and beautifully illustrated.

I'm always surprised at the rivalries among little girls in children's literature, because I never remember as a little boy having these suspicions about the boys my age. With that reservation, I do like this book, and I'm eager to read it aloud to some children and see if they like it as well.

Book Review for Nadia's Hands
Book Review for Nadia's Hands
By Shilpa Krishnan

This book is a fantastic story about a Pakistani girl who lives in America. It is very detailed. You can learn about the culture and the weddings in Pakistan.
This exciting story tells about how Nadia needs to be a Pakistani in America. For example, she needs to put Henna on her hands but does not want to show them at school. As you flip through the pages, the pictures will catch your eyes. They are colorful and detailed. The pictures are big, so you won't miss it. There is also a lot of background information on Pakistan words. On the first page of the book, there is some Pakistan words and their meanings.
I recommend you to read Nadia's Hands. The pictures and texts are very detailed. If you would like to learn about Pakistani culture, you would love to read this astounding book.

Wonderful story - from an Indian's perspective
We checked out this book from the library for our almost 4 year old daughther, who is born here but very much in love with everything Indian - from food to bindis to the religious events.When I read it at first, it seemed unnecessarily graphic about Nadia's feelings.After my 3rd or 5th read, I realized that the book brought forth emotions in Nadia, not uncommon amongst multi-ethnic kids in the American culture.Of course they're confused about the wierd customs of their parents, the expectations and rituals.It is only through an understanding of the very customs through the kids' extended families does confusion melt away.If more books like this existed for the kids, maybe the ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) stigma would seem more like a rite of passage.A definte read for any Indian parent raising a child in America.

Touching and thoughtful
This book is a wonderful window into the Pakistani culture and the experiences of immigrants struggling to blend their traditions with the culture of their new homes. No offense to the Hindi reviewer, but this book is about a young girl, not an adult, and it seems unfair to judge it so harshly. I have bought a copy of this book to donate to my son's classroom and think it is a wonderful way to discuss and embrace multiculturalism.

Patience rewarded for young Nadia
Karen English is to be congratulated for Nadia's Hands. There is a dearth of stories on issues faced by Pakistani-American children. Nadia's Hands makes a rich and stunning contribution to this area.

The storyline is splendidly rendered. Nadia has been chosen to be the flower girl in Auntie Laila's traditional Pakistani wedding. Her hands are to be decorated with intricate designs of mehndi henna. The love of a large extended family assists her in understanding cultural traditions and accepting her role in the wedding celebrations.

Notably, Karen English presents a theme rarely found in children's literature - patience. After the mehndi is applied, Nadia's mother gently reminds her: "Be patient Nadia. Remember sabr - patience." The theme is similar to that of Subira Subira by Tololwa M. Mollel, an Arusha Maasai from Tanzania. In Swahili, "subira" means patience and is derived from the same root as "sabr". In Mollel's story, a brave young girl Tatu embarks on plucking three whiskers from a lion. In taming the lion, Tatu learns the power of patience and song.

"Sabr","subira" and the theme of patience are indicative of the richness presented by the increasing number of multicultural stories in children's literature.

My four year old really enjoyed Nadia's Hands and it remains a favourite. The pastel colours in the book are warm and evocative. A small complaint is the mispelling of Zahra Khan's name on the last page. Also a Pakistani-American child would likely address an aunt as "Laila Auntie" instead of "Auntie Laila". ... Read more

Product Description
A bitingly funny debut story collection trails a Pakistani-American actor searching for a way to play himself in "real, actual life."

When B-movie-grade actor Kareem Abdul-Jabbar opens the mail one day, he find a one-way bus ticket to Cleveland and a note from his ex-girlfriend Eileen that reads, "Good news. I am through with big dicks and henceforth thinking constantly of you." So begin the linked misadventures of one of the most endearing ne'er-do-wells to grace recent American fiction.
Kareem drops his job portraying Hispanic criminals on America's Most Wanted and makes his way to Ohio, where he puts his dramatic skills to the test by impersonating a Bosnian refugee, in an attempt to help Eileen cash in on her grandmother's philanthropy. Such virtuosity can't last, however, and Kareem moves on, looking for a way to be himself when the camera isn't rolling. In one story, he pushes drinks as the Zima Zorro at the Ancient Mariner Sports Bar and Grill; in another he roughs up Unrepentant Privilege Abuse Perpetrators as a rental video repossessor. He returns to the theater, as stage manager to an incestuous Shakespearean troupe adrift in Pakistan, and as a Kilgore hell-bent on getting bumped up to Kurtz in a musical dinner theater production of Apocalypse Now. As he follows Kareem's quest for the big breaks in work and love, Imad Rahman explores the struggle for success and self-invention in contemporary life with originality, irreverence, and an absurdist wit that strikes unerringly close to the bone.
Amazon.com Review
In his smashing debut story collection I Dream of Microwaves, Imad Rahman navigates the world of marginal actors looking for work--and love--in quirky, unseemly venues. Following the travails of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a young Pakistani actor whose career highlight has been playing perpetrators in crime reenactments on America's Most Wanted, Rahman offers over-the-top episodes of astounding wit and hilarity, in no particular chronological order, as Kareem: finds work as a costumed hawker of a trendy drink at a dive bar where he battles a dwarven rival for the crowd's business; reprises Brando's role of Kurtz in a musical production of Apocalypse Now at the Steak 'N Stage dinner theatre; and partakes in his recurring girlfriend, Eileen's, plan to pry money from her philanthropic grandmother. In the latter, title story, Kareem pretends to be a Bosnian war survivor, pitted against Eileen's ruse. The B-listers recognize each other and, rather than tattle, enter into a duel of "acting one-upsmanship," telling increasingly grandiose stories of atrocity and third-world living. After joining a Shakespeare troupe stranded in Pakistan and watching their driver revive his van with a mouthful of gas, then immediately light a cigarette without incident, Kareem: "expected his head to pop off with a bang, flames bellowing out his open neck." Self-deprecating and funny, Kareem is a memorable thespian worth following around.--Michael Ferch ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

An entertaining combination of sarcasm and irony
"I dream of Microwaves" is like sitting in your favorite couch and flipping through channels on the TV when there is nothing good on... And then by chance landing on a show on some obscure channel that totally captivates you and forces you to watch it till the credits are done rolling.
A simple yet hillarious account of the adventures (or misadventures) of an underrated Pakistani Actor trying to survive from day to day in the land of freedom filled to the brim with stereotypes.
The book offers you something you will rarely find in storytelling these days: the simple absence of fantastic events. Something for everyone; this book applies to all our lives at some point in time. The character of Kareem Abdul Jabbar (no relation to the NBA star) is just trying to make ends meet and do what he knows best: act. His overanalysis of every situation and his 'Forest Gump' ways make for hours of good story telling.
A must-read for those who find joy in simple things and find Irony humorous.

I loved this book
I absolutely loved this book.This collection takes off like a firecracker and keeps spinning, with flinty sparks of cynicism and satire, until the last page.It's imaginative, smart, and stakes out its own territory rather rehashing the familiar workshoppy world of the short story.And that, I think, is what I like most about this collection: the author takes a familiar from, the short story, and then cuts a new groove so that the stories don't really seem like very many stories I've seen before.I told two friends (from my days in grad school) to buy the book and if they didn't like it, I'd buy the book off them.So far no one's come to me for a refund!I Dream of Microwaves is good stuff.

Wierd
Wierd but good. It's like "My Fractured Life" meets Wierd Al Yankovik or Mel Brooks.

Immitation is the Sincerest Form of Flatery
The thing that bothered me about I DREAM OF MICROWAVES is the same thing that I liked about it. You just can't get past the point-by-point way it follows the same story as MY FRACTURED LIFE. On the one hand this is what I enjoyed about it because it does cover the same territory so it was familiar to something I already enjoy. However it was also bothersome in some ways because I wanted something more than the main character being turned into a middle easterner and renamed after a basketball player. It is a nicely written book. I did enjoy it. However I did not enjoy it as much as MY FRACTURED LIFE because it didn't seem to add as much to the story as I would have liked.

Enjoyable
In the same tradition as "My Fractured Life", "I Dream of Microwaves" is a fun stomping of Hollywood's B-list subculture. If you enjoyed "My Fractured Life" and "Running With Scissors" you should enjoy this. ... Read more

Product Description

From childhood, willful, intelligent Saira Qader broke the boundaries between her family's traditions and her desire for independence. A free-spirited and rebellious Muslim-American of Indo-Pakistani descent, she rejected the constricting notions of family, duty, obligation, and fate, choosing instead to become a journalist, the world her home.

Five years later, tragedy strikes, throwing Saira's life into turmoil. Now the woman who chased the world to uncover the details of other lives must confront the truths of her own. In need of understanding, she looks to the stories of those who came before—her grandparents, a beloved aunt, her mother and father. As Saira discovers the hope, pain, joy, and passion that defined their lives, she begins to face what she never wanted to admit—that choice is not always our own, and that faith is not just an intellectual preference.

Customer Reviews (51)

Best Novel I've Read in 2010
This novel introduced me to a family culture that is -- on the surface -- vastly different than my own Anglo-Judeo-Christian one, but at its core, is eerily similar. The bittersweet themes resonated with me on several levels. I'll remember this book and its artfully-woven characters, and I can't say that of the other 54 novels I've read so far this year. I'm looking forward to Haji's next novel.

Highly recommended
I loved this book and I am not easily impressed or one to gush. As a second generation British Pakistani so much of this book resonated with me. It's rare to find a book where you can relate to the story on such a personal level. I was moved to tears on several occasions. The story line is entertaining and the book is not one you can easily put down. The writing style is beautiful through-out and I would like to thank the author for writing this. It was one of the best reads I have had in a long time and I read a lot of literature by South-Asian authors. Nafisa Haji has topped Mohsin Hamid and perhaps even Khaled Hosseini. Thank you Nafisa Haji, please write more. You were clearly born to do it.

Saira's Story Held Me Captive
Living in California, young Saira Qader is the daughter of traditional and conservative Muslim parents. However, she was brought up in America and tends to think like an American and what American teenager isn't a bit rebellious.

Saira goes to Pakistan without her mother and sister when she is fourteen to attend a family wedding. During the trip she finds out her grandfather isn't dead as she been told. He actually left her grandmother and is living with a second family in England. The marriage between her grandparents had been arranged.

She returns home to a sister who has agreed to an arranged marriage, but after what Saira has seen coupled with her rebellious nature, she knows this isn't the route she wants to take. Instead she wants to go to college just like her American friends and she does, where she participates in several unMuslim like activities, like drugs, drink and sex.

She winds up as a successful journalist, traveling the world with her photographer cousin, whose lifestyle would shock any conservative Muslim. But after the Twin Towers fall her sister is murdered because she was wearing a hijab and this causes Saria to reevaluate her life and her relationship with her family.

Saria's story held me captive. I'm always interested in cultures different than mine, especially when I can learn about them in a well told story and this story is well told. I don't know about all the choices Saria made, but most of them I could well imagining a girl in her position making. I can imagine how hard it would be for a second generation American balancing family and success. Free will, they say God gave it to us, but fate and culture play a strong roll and when you're trying to balance all three, well it's not always possible, but you'll enjoy reading this story and learning how Saria deals with the conflict between her will and her culture.

Roots, Culture and Determination
Saria Qader and her older sister Ameena are second generation Muslim-Americans, but they couldn't be more different. Ameena is the beauty, Saria is the brains. Ameena will mend her will to tradition, Saria will not. The girls are growing up in America, but the traditions and culture of their parents have followed them. Ameena agrees to an arranged marriage with a handsome doctor, but Saria wants to go to college.

When she was fourteen she found out her grandmother's secret. Saria had always believed her grandfather was dead, but it wasn't. He'd left his arranged marriage and took up with another. Not everybody in her family was a slave to tradition. Saria wouldn't be either. And she isn't. She goes to college, becomes an international journalist, but when Ameena is murdered after 9/11 she questions the choices she's made.

In the end the ties that bind are family. But sometimes we have to lose them to discover how important that are. Sometimes we can get them back, sometimes we cannot. How Saria handles the conflict is what make this story so wonderful. It's a story about mothers and daughters, about sisters, about family. About the struggles and trials of second generation Americans who have one foot in America and one foot in a culture they never really knew.

The Writing on My Forehead
"The Writing on My Forehead" explores the issues surrounding growing up in America in a family of a different culture. The main character, Saira Qader, is of Indo-Pakistani descent and writhes against the duties and values imposed onto her by her family. Her wishes are not her own and she's expected to follow the path laid out for her by generations of traditions and obligations.

While Saira has respect for her culture, she also wants to strike out on her own and do things differently. While on a trip to a cousin's wedding in India, Saira realizes that her grandfather, who she was told was dead, is actually alive. Discovering her mother's lie makes Saira even more determined to follow her heart and attend college instead of marrying early per her family's wishes.

Influenced by her grandfather's role in India's independence movement, Saira dreams of a future as a war journalist and arranges to travel with her photographer cousin. She encounters and has to deal with with issues ranging from arranged marriages to adultery and is exposed to the world beyond her family confines.

Haji's talent is apparent in the characters she creates, and Saira's struggles will speak to girls of any background who are trying to balance their own desires with those of their families. Beautifully written, "The Writing on My Forehead" is a worthy addition to any bookshelf. ... Read more