DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Bibliography
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. 2005. Does My Head Look Big in This? New York: Orchard Books. ISBN 0439919479

Plot Summary
Sixteen-year old Amal is a Muslim and has decided to wear the hijab as a symbol of her religious devotion. However, she knows such a decision will prove a challenge due to the existing prejudices and misconceptions that many people hold concerning her religion. If this is not enough stress, she must also face the normal challenges that many high school girls go through, such as boys, studying for exams, and helping her friends through their problems.

Critical Analysis
This book is about Amal’s journey after deciding to wear the hijab. Through this journey one learns about her spunky personality, her cleverness, her culture, her friends, teenage pressures, and the prejudices that exist concerning Muslims and Middle Easterners. Amal faces many challenges that would make any weak person decide to stop wearing the hijab. However, her maturity is in her resolution to continue to wear it despite the opposition she faces. The setting is Melbourne, Australia. Amal attends a prestigious prep school. Her mom is a dentist, and her dad is a doctor. Despite the well-to-do background of Amal and her friends, they face many events that any teenager can relate to, such as crushes, lying to parents in order to attend a party, and bullying, to name a few. Although there are a few moments where Amal has a preachy moment, such as fussing at her friend Adam about not judging people but individuals, readers will find the characters endearing and cheer Amal on to the end (Abdel-Fattah 2005, 147).

The story is filled with cultural richness. Amal identifies her background as Australian-Muslim-Palestinian and is just as specific about her friends’ backgrounds as well. For instance, her friend Leila is half Pakistani and half British. Distinctions and respect for a variety cultures are made throughout the book. Each culture is treated individually and with respect. There is no lumping of cultures here. Celebrations and religious practices are described as well. For example, Amal describes how her family celebrates Ramadan. There is also a nice description of a Syrian and Afghani wedding that Amal attends where she explains how each Middle Eastern culture has its own version of a dance called the dabke (Abdel-Fattah 2005, 283).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons. Ramal is a strong female character. I like how different cultures mentioned, even those outside of the Middle Eastern cultures, are treated with respect. Most importantly, I was able to relate to Amal’s struggle to wear the hijab. I had the same struggle about a year ago trying to decide to wear my African American hair curly and natural. Like Amal, I was afraid that doing so would make it difficult for me to get a job or cause people to judge me unfairly. Like Amal, I made the decision to be myself and all of the worries I had are other people’s problem, not my own.

Awards Won & Review Excerpts

• Best Children's Books of the Year, 2008; Bank Street College of Education
• Booklist Top 10 First Novels for Youth, 2007
• Booklist Top 10 Religious Books for Youth, 2007
• Kirkus Best Young Adult Books, 2007
• Booklist: "More than the usual story of the immigrant teen’s conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere."
• Kirkus Reviews: "Abdel-Fattah's fine first novel offers a world of insight to post-9/11 readers."
• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books: "But as bad hair days get replaced by bad hijab days, she steadily grows into an increasingly mature and nuanced understanding of what it means to be a Muslim woman, helped by the positive example of her stylish, professional, devout mother and the negative examples of her assimilation-obsessed aunt and her best friend’s tradition-strictured mother."
• VOYA: "This novel is an excellent addition to the multicultural and chick-lit genres, and it is recommended for most collections."

Connections

• Try this other novel by Randa Abdel-Fattah:

          Where the Streets had a Name. ISBN 0545172926

• Other books about Muslims:

          January, Brendan. The Iranian Revolution. ISBN 0822575213
          Kovarik, Chiara Angela. Interviews with Muslim Women of Pakistan. ISBN
          092963649X
          Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Under the Persimmon Tree. ISBN 0374380252