Customer Reviews

Does My Head Look Big In This?

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Let me start out by saying that DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS? is a book that needed to be written, and one that needs to be read. It definitely fills a gap in young adult literature: it's a story about a normal Muslim girl in a non-Muslim country (Australia) who is not escaping oppression by a fundamentalist government/family or anything like that. Amal is just a normal teenage girl, albeit a Muslim one. She has crushes on boys, she likes to go shopping, she giggles with her friends, and she sometimes argues with her parents or feuds with classmates.

However, Amal's life is changed drastically when she makes a major decision: to wear the hijab, the head scarf worn by Muslim women. This would not be nearly such a big deal were she still at school with all of her friends who are also Muslim and some of whom wear the hijab full-time (meaning: whenever she is around men who are not relatives) as well. However, Amal has recently transferred to a very white-bread prep school, where the environment is completely different.

Amal is subjected to racism and discrimination by kids whose experience with Muslims has largely been confined to what they see in the media. The reactions she faces at home are not all positive, either, but Amal has made a choice. To her, it is a personal, religious decision, to show her devotion to God; it's not about being oppressed as some of her classmates seem to think, or making any sort of statement. Being a Muslim is a part of who Amal is, but in showing that, she faces things a lot worse than any evangelical Christian I know, and that's a sad commentary on our society.

All of that aside, Randa Abdel-Fattah's book is very well-written, and I loved Amal's voice. The characters in this book (particularly Amal) were great. DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS? is actually a little reminiscent of the wonderful LOOKING FOR ALIBRANDI by Melina Marchetta, and that's high praise, indeed! The main characters feel similarly different from their peers, are both Australian, and even have sort of similar voices.

This book is more than worth reading; it's a must-read!

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Does My Head Look Big In This? is a much-needed novel, given the heated controversy over facial/head coverings and what this might imply.
Abdel-Fattah, through her main character Amal, tackles this very issue with depth and adroitness.
Amal is a Muslim girl living in Australia. She is very much devoted to her faith, and has decided that she wants to wear the hijab full-time. This is a big deal, because the school she attends is preppy, has a respectable "reputation" with a strict dress code, and contains a mostly white population. Amal wears the hijab to show her faith, but also because she doesn't want to have to worry about her physical appearance like most teenage girls who obsess about their breast size and other body parts.

Abdel-Fattah is not afraid to tackle sensitive topics that arise with the issue of wearing the hijab. Amal faces prejudice, discrimination and insolence from her peers at school as well as in public as a reaction to her hijab. There are accusations of terrorism, fundamentalism, and oppression. Amal is quick to point out that terrorists who fatally end the lives of others are not "Muslim"; rather, they are using religion as a pretext to justify their violent actions. She is careful to separate faith and violent fundamentalism while peers around her are reactionary and seem to follow ignorant notions - grouping every violent or unpleasant phenomenon even remotely associated with Islam, to the religion itself.

What is interesting about this book is that Amal is not at all a fundamentalist Muslim who spends her entire day praying or reading the Koran. She is a religious Muslim who prays five times a day, but she is also a normal teenage girl who likes to hang out with her friends, shop, have girl's night out, and even has a crush on a boy named Adam.

I thought that this book was a great addition to YA literature. It's different, refreshing, and unique. Rarely have I encountered a book exploring the Muslism experience of a young teenage girl. Amal's voice is intelligent, funny, and witty. I felt like I couldn't get enough of her sarcasm, and her descriptions will make you laugh out loud.

Another great aspect of this novel is that all of the characters seem authentic - and you really do come to care about them. Amal and her friends Eileen, Simone, Yasmeen, Leila, Josh, and Adam all have distinct personalities that make them captivating and likeable. A salient sub-plot is Leila's story, and her difficult position of being the precocious young daughter of a highly religious and strict Muslim family. Her mother is exacting in her rules, holds a clear double standard between Leila and her brother Hakan (who, incidentally, smokes pot and goes to bars and gets away with it), and is intent on finding her a good husband to marry, even though Leila is more interested in studying law, doing well in school and being a normal teen. All the while, though, Amal and Yasmeen are there to comfort and help her. Their relationships with each other are sometimes complicated, but in the end they forge an indelible bond of friendship, love, and caring.

At the heart of Does My Head Look Big In This? is a message of individuality, identity, defending your beliefs, and the bonds of family and friendship.

Amal, her family and her friends are an utterly likeable set of characters and I felt like I couldn't get enough of them. Combine these likeable characters with Amal's clever and funny voice, and you get a story that you wish would never end.

I recommend this highly readable novel to any readers looking for a smart and captivating read. Especially if you don't know too much about Islam, this is a fresh and entertaining look into the life of a young Muslim girl.