Does my head look big in this? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The question is, "Why would a teen want to wear a hijab?"
Amal Abdel-Hakim, is the fictional seventeen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim, main character in this novel. She makes the decision to show her heritage and faith by wearing a hijib, the Muslim headscarf.
Since I didn't know much about what the headscarf signifies, I did some checking. According to an article found on beliefnet.com, "Your Hijab Questions Answered," hijab comes from the Arabic word, "hajaba," which means to conceal or hide from view. A hijab can be part of an entire way to dress - put with Western clothing or worn with loose robes. The hijab is part of modest dressing that is described in the Qur'an, the holy book that Muslims believe to be the word of God.
Amal decides to wear the hijab with clothing that is similar to what American teens wear. But no other students in her high school wears one. So, she stands out from her classmates. Her faith also provides the basis for many of her relationships with her friends, including guys. Some of the interactions that Amal has with her friends made me think of the girls in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Even though Amal is living in Australia, she and her friends have many of the same concerns about life as any teenager - hair, clothes, family, grades, careers, friends, boy-girl relationships, etc.
If you like to learn about other cultures and relationships that are similar across the world, this is a good read, perhaps more for girls than boys. Check out the author's website: Randa Abdel-Fattah website to learn more about her faith and living in Australia. You can also see a CNN.com article "Muslim women uncover myths about the hijab" in which the author is quoted. CNN Article