Having characters from varied Islamic backgrounds (Arab, Indian, African) also helps build a multi-faceted analysis of this unfortunately common prejudice of recent years. It analyses Islamaphobia through various angles. ✔ The book goes much beyond typical racial discrimination stories. Especially when she is writing about nature, she creates beautiful visuals. ✔ Ahmed’s writing is very poetic, though the topic is dire. They reminded me of the anonymous adage, “Stupidity is knowing the truth, seeing the truth but still believing the lies.” Every single one of these entries was thought-provoking. Every chapter having Safiya’s narrative begins with some simple but deep statements based on the above. ✔ The book begins with small one-liner definitions of ‘fact’, ‘alternative fact’, ‘truth’ and ‘lie’. Safiya feels the need to discover the truth but whom can she trust? Is she herself safe when her school too isn’t immune to hate crimes? Will Jawad and his family get justice?

Jawad’s voice reaches out to Safiya even from the beyond. This innocent invention gets Jawad arrested, labelled “Bomb Boy”, and eventually killed. This is when she discovers the body of Jawad in an abandoned corner of a local park.įourteen year old Jawad, the son of Iraqi refugees, was a brilliant inventor However, his life changes for the worse when a teacher mistakes his homebuilt cosplay jetpack for a bomb and calls 911. But soon, the attacks start becoming more personal. As an Indian-origin scholarship student who is also a Muslim, she finds herself facing biases on a regular basis but she tries not to let them affect her. Will work well for its target YA readers. This gripping and powerful book uses an innovative format and lyrical prose to expose the evil that exists in front of us, and the silent complicity of the privileged who create alternative facts to bend the truth to their liking. But he’s more than a dead body, and more than “Bomb Boy.” He was a person with a life worth remembering.ĭriven by Jawad’s haunting voice guiding her throughout her investigation, Safiya seeks to tell the whole truth about the murdered boy and those who killed him because of their hate-based beliefs. A jetpack that got him arrested, labeled a terrorist-and eventually killed. Jawad Ali was fourteen years old when he built a cosplay jetpack that a teacher mistook for a bomb. But all that changes the day she finds the body of a murdered boy. And one thing she’s learned as editor of her school newspaper is that a journalist’s job is to find the facts and not let personal biases affect the story.

Safiya Mirza dreams of becoming a journalist. Perfect for fans of Sadie and Dear Martin. A powerful, gripping YA novel about the insidious nature of racism, the terrible costs of unearthing hidden truths, and the undeniable power of hope, by New York Times bestselling author Samira Ahmed.

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