A story about a girl's struggle to find her purpose, take a stand, conform to her family role, stay hopeful, and persevere when she is forced to become a servant, giving up her dreams. This book also touches on the importance of education and the gender injustices that girls face in many cultures around the world.
What is this story about?
This story is about a girl named, Amal. Amal, the oldest in her family, lives with her mother, father, and sisters in Nabay Chak, a village in Pakistan. Amal loves reading, dreams of becoming a teacher, and fulfills her duty around the house. After her mother gives birth, Amal must step up and run the household, not being able to attend school anymore. One day, Amal unknowingly offends a wealthy landowners son, Jawad Sahib. Due to this, Amal is sent to live with the Khan's as their servant in order to repay her family's debt. Here, Amal struggles to fit in, survive without her family, and deal with this unfamiliar world. In the end, Amal must be brave and take a huge risk as she takes a stand against the Khan family.
Meet the Author:
Aisha Saeed
Aisha Saeed is an award-winning author. She has received awards such as: YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, 2018 Indie Next Pick, Amazon Best Book of the Month, Best Book of 2015 by Bank Street Books, and a New York Times bestselling author. She has also written the books, Written in the Stars, Once Upon an EID, Far From Agrabah, Yes No Maybe So, and Bilal Cooks Daal. Aisha is a founding member of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and three sons. Visit her website: http://aishasaeed.com/bio/ to find out more about her work.
My Critique/Review:
Before reading this book, I had not heard much about it. The colorful and intricate details on the cover, however, drew me in. This book was so beautifully done. It touches on big issues like gender inequality, taking a stand, family roles, and finding one's purpose. This book, written in modern day times, is a fictional book that gives a voice to real issues that are common around the world, making them relatable to all. Lastly, this book meets my expectations of a good children's book because it is relatable, hopeful, action packed, empowering, and incorporates and educates readers on real issues still seen today, making it an important read for students.
Thoughts:
Conflict was a big idea that stood out to me while reading this book. I noticed many areas of conflict: Amal vs. man, Amal vs. self, and Amal vs. society. In the book, Amal struggles with her family role as the eldest daughter, constantly wondering what her purpose is. On page 34 Amal mentions: "I wanted to tell him it wasn't my choice to be the eldest, but I held my tongue. Why did this random chance have to dictate so much of my destiny" (Saeed, 2018). Here, Amal is struggling with society's ideas on family roles and where she fits in. Furthermore, society's representation of girls/women and their role in society plays a huge factor in Amal's life. From her little sister being born and the community pitying them, her forbidden friendship with Omar, to questioning why she has to leave school by saying: "If I were a boy, would I be staying home to fold laundry and iron clothes? If I were a son, would he so casually tell me to forget my dream?" (Saeed, 2018, pg. 43). This final statement is so powerful and raises awareness for the millions of girls around the world who must give up their dreams to fit into society's view of women. Furthermore, when Amal internally struggles to stay and help her teacher or go home and fulfill her family duty in the beginning of the book, readers are able to notice a man vs. self conflict (Saeed, 2018, pg. 2). Lastly, at times Amal faces 'man vs. man' conflict when she encounters Jawad, discusses her village's hate for the Khan family, and when Khan Sahib and Jawad are conflicted about what to do with the dead body. (Saeed, 2018, pg. 201). All of these issues of conflict that Amal faces create tension in the book, leaving the story interesting and Amal's actions uncertain.
When thinking about the themes of this book, there were many that stood out to me. Some important themes I noticed in this book were: taking a stand and being brave, having hope, dealing with change, finding your purpose among family roles, and gender inequality. Throughout the whole book, Amal faces gender inequality and female oppression from the time her baby sister is born. In her culture, women are supposed to run the household. They must cook, clean, and care for the children, not looking at their dreams or education as important. Many times Amal is questioning why she can't go to school or why she has to stay home and look after her siblings, touching on the idea that it is because she is a girl. This is a major theme in the book and gives a voice to underrepresented women/girls around the world. Girls in this same situation can read this book and feel empowered to make their voices heard. Furthermore, taking a stand and being brave is a theme that readers notice in Amal throughout the book, but she finally acts on it in the end. Throughout the book, her thoughts have been questioning society and rules, and at times, has acted on her thoughts. For instance, when she stood up to Jawad at the market, Amal stood up for herself, however, later regretted it. (Saeed, 2018, pg. 50). At the end of the book, Amal has courage and takes a risk, telling her teacher about Jawad and the dead body, ultimately, saving her village. She writes, "What if we could do something? What if we at least tried to stop him" (Saeed, 2018, pg. 206). So, with the help of Nabila and Bilal, Amal builds up the courage to take a stand in hopes that her life, and everyone else's, will get better. Amal's quiet acts of bravery throughout the book sets a great example to readers. Lastly, finding your purpose/identity is an important theme for readers. Throughout the book, Amal is struggling with her role as the eldest in her family, questioning where she belongs in society. This idea of one's purpose is also addressed when Amal talks about Nasreen Baji. Amal mentions: "What was the benefit of reaching Nasreen Baji's station? If she could be this wealthy and have power over so many people but couldn't grow her own garden, what kind of freedom is that?" (Saeed, 2018, pg. 103). Here, Amal is questioning Nasreen Baji's identity in the Khan household. Many times Nasreen Baji mentions how she hasn't seen her family in years and she cannot do certain things living the life she lives. This makes Amal question Nasreen Baji's identity and role, seeing her as not really free and a captive in her own life.
In this book, Amal has a dream to become a teacher one day. Amal's dream and story is such a powerful lesson for readers because it shows a girl with a dream, how life circumstances can affect it, and how she is able to persevere and hold onto her dream. In the end, Amal's dream to become a teacher and her love for reading is what led to Jawad's downfall and saved her in the end. Author, Aisha Saeed mentions that she used to be a teacher so I think this small detail reflected in Amal is how the author is able to connect and put a piece of herself in the book.
Making Connections:
One way that I would use this book in the classroom is to talk about conflict. In the google presentation provided to us, it mentions the types of conflict that can occur in a book and provides a youtube video about conflicts in literature. (Kane, 2013). I would first have students watch the video and teach them about the types of conflict: Man vs. man; man vs. society, man vs. nature, and man vs. self. Then, I would teach students about how conflicts can be internal or external and how to decide which it is. Finally, students would pick out the examples of conflict throughout the book, categorizing them by type. I think this would be a great book to teach about conflict because there are many instances of each type of conflict throughout the book, that help to shape the storyline.
According to the author's note, this book was inspired by Malala Yousafzai story and countless unknown girls like her. Both this book and the book, Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan and Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan, discuss the importance of resisting oppression, being brave, and taking a stand for injustices. These books teach readers that when they see something that seems unfair, they should not ignore it, but fight against it. Children can be advocates and make a change in the world, which can be seen through these books.
Useful Links:
Discussion guides, lesson plans, and further resources from the author: http://aishasaeed.com/amal-unbound-teaching-resources-page/
Questions answered by Aisha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuCRFrm4ZVk ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgu1f0KXMW4
Educator's guide: http://images.randomhouse.com/teachers_guides/9780399544682.pdf
Interactive document with resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10rsoQShQy2CSIRdVbyHS4ypJufnumngwsL4D9M_ME5s/edit
Resources and lesson ideas for the book dealing with theme, conflict, and vocabulary: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DzzDKlvn5aEhYEoX7j9wR35EUyxION5HYBq_9-Ywafo/edit#slide=id.g3c716291b4_0_40
Children's books set in Pakistan: https://coloursofus.com/childrens-books-set-in-pakistan/
Resources on making connections with books: https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/stories/storiesi2/15/
Book talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbYUrO0TbQ
Aisha Saeed on the panel discussing "We Need Diverse Books": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZoLHJ_Byp4
We Need Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org
https://www.globalonenessproject.org/lesson-plans/day-life
Sources:
Aisha Saeed. Digital image. Reprinted from Bio / Aisha Saeed. N.p., n.d. Web. http://aishasaeed.com/bio/.
Kane, M. “Conflict in Literature.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 20 November 2013. Web. 27 October 2019.
Saeed, A. (2018) Amal Unbound. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.