Teen Tuesday: Huda F are You? by Huda Fahmy

Image: Penguin Random House

Huda F are You? by Huda Fahmy. 188 p. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Young Readers Group, November, 2021. 9780593324301. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy Tuesday! It's still winter here in NJ, a brisk 24 degrees when I took the hounds out for their morning trot at 5AM. The title of our Teen Tuesday feature sure is attention-grabbing, so hang on to your hat! 

Teen Tuesday features Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy. Did you see what the author did there? The main character in this fictionalized graphic novel memoir is Huda Fahmy, Huda F. is an Egyptian-American. She is also a hijab-wearing Muslim who has recently moved from a town in Michigan, wear she was the only hijabi, to Dearborn, where she is one of so many, that there are hijabi cliques, like the athletes, gamers and fashionistas. As the second of five daughters, she knows exactly who she is in her family, the smart one, but in her new high school? Not so much, so she experiments with personas with often humorous but embarrassing results. Sadly, Huda still deals with micro-aggressions and outright hostility, especially from her English teacher, who thinly hides her racism.

The art is simple and clean with lots of white space and easy to follow panels. Readers are sure to root for Huda F. as she finds herself. I'd love to read a sequel.

Middle Grade Monday: A-Okay by Jarad Greene

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

A-Okay by Jarad Greene. 240 p. HarperAlley/ HarperCollins Publishers, November, 2021. 9780063032842. (Review of finished purchased copy.)

Happy Monday. We had some weather last night! Phew! I hope you are all warm, safe and dry! I have skylights in my bedroom and watching that fierce wind whip around a hundred-year-old American Beech tree in my yard was nerve-wracking.

Middle Grade Monday features A-Okay by Jarad Greene. When thirteen-year-old Jay starts eighth grade with a few pimples, he's not too concerned. He's more concerned over the fact that he has zero classes with any of his friends, including his bestie, Brace. His nemesis, Aaron still has it in for him as well. Then, the pimples multiply. Jay's parents take him to a dermatologist, but none of the medications he prescribes works, so Jay starts Accutane, a drug that has some serious side effects, but works on bad acne. So now Jay has to watch his diet, check for side effects while worrying about why Brace and his other friends are ghosting him. He does make two new friends, Mark and Amy, both of whom seem to show some romantic interest in Jay, but Jay just likes both of them as friends. Is there anything more he can worry about?

This graphic novel is based on the author/ illustrator's own experience with acne as an eighth grader. The art is bright, uncluttered and easy to follow. Flashbacks are purple-hued. Jay is likable and relatable, including his concern over not having crushes on any of his classmates.

Graphic novels are so popular in my library, especially GNs about friendship and crushes. A-Okay is a welcome addition to any graphic novel collection. This won't sit.

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz with Tiffany D. Jackson

Image: Macmillan

The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~7 hours, 54 minutes. Read by Landon Woodson. Macmillan Young Listeners, January, 2021. 9781250619105. (Review of e-audiobook downloaded from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson. This fictionalized biography of the author's father, Malcolm X, covers his young adult life from about the age of 18 through his 20s. Ms. Shabazz, Malcolm X's youngest daughter, wrote a novel about his early life in X: a Novel along with Kekla Magoon in 2015. She went on to write a fictionalized biography of her mother, Betty Before X in 2018. Teen readers who are interested in the life of the Civil Rights activist, but not ready to tackle his autobiography would do well to start here.

In The Awakening of Malcolm X, Malcolm Little and his friend are framed in a robbery investigation by the white woman Malcolm was dating. While she planned all the robberies, when the three were caught, she claimed that Malcolm forced her to, earning Malcolm and his friend hard time in prison.

This first-person narrative pulls no punches. Life in Charlestown Prison was brutal. Malcolm was angry and not always cooperative with the racist system. He ended up in solitary confinement more than once, but he was smart and his family were supportive. His brothers and sisters tried to visit regularly. It was through his brothers that he discovered Islam and was eventually transferred to another prison where prisoners were treated better and education was encouraged. By the time he left prison, he had devoted his life to Islam and became Malcolm X.

New-to-me narrator Landon Woodson delivered an emotionally gripping performance. I am really hoping for more books from Ms. Shabazz about her complex and brilliant father. 

Teen Tuesday: Everything Sad is Untrue: a Novel by Daniel Nayeri

Image: Levine Querido

Everything Sad is Untrue: a Novel by Daniel Nayeri. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~8 hours. Read by the author. Listening Library, 2020. 9780593168417.

Teen Tuesday features Everything Sad is Untrue: a Novel by Daniel Nayeri. Ten-year-old Khosrou stands in front of his fifth grade class in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is a target. He is the only Iranian in the mostly white town. His classmates and teachers can't pronounce his name and so, he is now Daniel and he's a storyteller, just as Scheherazade was - telling stories to save his life. How did the son of a physician and a dentist who lived in luxury in Iran end up fleeing with his mother and sister? His classmates learn Daniel's story slowly, as does the reader because, while often humorous, it's very painful. They also learn about Persian kings and princesses and kindly doctors. The story zigs and zags and, while it requires a bit of patience, like any long story, it is satisfying.

This compelling and complex autobiographical novel won the 2021 Printz Award. 

The audiobook was narrated by the author and was outstanding. Mr. Nayari's storytelling skills shine here.