Does My Head Look Big In This? [Paperback]

Grade 7 Up—Australian 11th-grader Amal is smart, funny, outspoken, a good student, and a loyal friend. She is also a devout Muslim who decides to wear the hijab, or head covering, full-time. The story tells of her emotional and spiritual journey as she copes with a mad crush on a boy, befriends an elderly Greek neighbor, and tries to help a friend who aspires to be a lawyer but whose well-intentioned mother is trying to force her to leave school and get married. Amal is also battling the misconceptions of non-Muslims about her religion and culture. While the novel deals with a number of serious issues, it is extremely funny and entertaining, and never preachy or forced. The details of Amal's family and social life are spot-on, and the book is wonderful at showing the diversity within Muslim communities and in explaining why so many women choose to wear the hijab. Amal is an appealing and believable character. She trades verbal jibes with another girl, she is impetuous and even arrogant at times, and she makes some serious errors of judgment. And by the end of the story, she and readers come to realize that "Putting on the hijab isn't the end of the journey. It's just the beginning of it."—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
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*Starred Review* Like the author of this breakthrough debut novel, Amal is an Australian-born, Muslim Palestinian "whacked with some seriously confusing identity hyphens." At 16, she loves shopping, watches Sex and the City, and IMs her friends about her crush on a classmate. She also wants to wear the hijab, to be strong enough to show a badge of her deeply held faith, even if she confronts insults from some at her snotty prep school, and she is refused a part-time job in the food court (she is "not hygienic"). Her open-minded observant physician parents support her and so do her friends, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, secular. Her favorite teacher finds her a private space to pray. The first-person present-tense narrative is hilarious about the diversity, and sometimes heartbreaking. For her uncle who wants to assimilate, "foreign" is the f-word, and his overdone Aussie slang and flag-waving is a total embarrassment. On the other hand, her friend Leila nearly breaks down when her ignorant Turkish mom wants only to marry her daughter off ("Why study?") and does not know that it is Leila's Islamic duty "to seek knowledge, to gain an education." Without heavy preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere. Rochman, Hazel --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

"[A] witty, sensitive debut . . ." -PEOPLE "More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere." --BOOKLIST (starred) "Determined to prove she's strong enough to 'wear a badge of my faith,' Amal faces ostracism and ridicule as she dons her hijab with both good humor and trepidation. . . . Abdel-Fattah's fine first novel offers a world of insight to post-9/11 readers." --KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred) "Using a winning mix of humor and sensitivity, Abdel-Fattah ably demonstrates that her heroine is, at heart, a teen like any other. This debut should speak to anyone who has felt like an outsider for any reason." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

As soon as sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full-time, everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Can she handle the taunts of "towel head" and the prejudice of her classmates, and manage her growing friendship with the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel- Fattah's debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH is a twenty-six-year-old lawyer. Does My Head Look Big in This? is her first novel, and like its fictional heroine, she has her own identity hyphens to contend with as an Australian-born- Muslim-Palestinian-Egyptian-choc-a-holic. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

Amal Abdel-Hakim is a 17-year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim whoÕs asking the same question all teens ask: How do I fit into my world?. SheÕs bright, pretty, popular, and sheÕs just decided to wear the hijab--the headscarf--full time. How this changes AmalÕs life is recounted in serious and hilarious detail and narrated with authenticity by Rebecca Macauley, who manages both teen angst and adult tones with equal aplomb. While the Australian slang may sometimes mystify American teens, the storyÕs universal appeal and MacaulayÕs gifted narration will keep listeners fully engaged in AmalÕs struggle to be an observant Muslim while still maintaining an ordinary teenagerÕs life. S.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.