Call Me Al

Shah, Wali and Walters, Eric. Call Me Al
March 12, 2024 by Orca Book Publishers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ali Khan is in the 8th grade, and struggling with several issues. His family works hard, and there is a lot of pressure for him to do well in school like his older brother, Osama, who goes by Sam. His father was a doctor in Pakistan, but drives a cab, and his mother, who was a teacher, is the manager of the apartment building where they all live. His grandfather was a well known professor of literature, but now works as a security guard. There's some tension with his longtime neighbor and best friend, Zach, who is hanging out with a well-to-do crowd of white students, and even leaves school for lunch at a nearby mall. Al wants to tag along, but feels guilty the whole time, especially when he runs into his grandfather. Al also has a crush on one of the girls in this group, Melissa, and is inspired to write a poem about her, which he keeps to himself. His teacher, Ms. McIntosh, encourages his writing, but does constructively criticize his work when he writes about what it is like to live in a ghetto: she wants him to use his own voice instead of trying to sound like a rap song. After Al's father helps deliver a baby in his taxi while Al is tagging along, Al has a lot of conflicting emotions about the way his father is perceived. When he, his mother, and his younger brother Danny are verbally and physically assaulted on their way home from the grocery store, Al has conflicting feelings about Zach, since his friend has made similar comments but brushed them off as "jokes". Emotions are running high as these events pile up during Ramadan. When a mosque in the US is the target of violence, Al finds himself turning more and more to writing poetry even though his father wants him to concentrate on his school work, since it is more important to learn skills so he can eventually deliver babies instead of writing about delivering them. Ms. McIntosh, as well as Al's grandfather, understand the importance of writing as a way to deal with events around him, but his father still is more interested in his academic progress. The Khans invite a larger number of people for their Eid feast, and include the wealthier classmates, some teachers, and others with whom they have interacted, as a way to increase understanding in the community. Zach surprises them by encouraging Al's classmates to fast during the day of the celebration so that they know a bit more about what the process feels like. At the end of the school year, Al is named the valedictorian of his class and encouraged to share his poetry, and his father makes peace with this after learning about Lazarus, the Detroit, Michigan based rapper, songwriter and physician of Pakistani descent. 

Strengths: Walters is a prolific Canadian author who has done interesting collaborations with a number of others, in this case the poet and motivational speaker Wali Shah. This is a good look at how a middle school boy might struggle with racism, microagressions, and family expectations, on top of other pressures of middle school like crushes and fitting in. The story moves along quickly, and has a nice mix of topics. 
Weaknesses: My students are not particularly fond of poetry, so I wish there had been a tiny bit more basketball in this to hook them, especially since Walters does such a good sports novel. I also wish there were more books about Muslim students who are of Somali descent, since that's the background of most of my students. There are a lot of books by Pakistani authors, but relatively few by Somali authors. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for students who like Grimes' Garvey's Choice and Baptist's Isaiah Dunn is My Hero.  As of November, 2023, Follett does not list a prebound copy for sale, and paperbacks do not hold up in my library, so I'll have to wait to purchase.