March 10, 2026 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this companion novel to Amal Unbound and Omar Rising, we follow the progress of Amal's best friend, Hafsa. Hafsa's family runs a produce market in their small Pakistani village, and she is very excited to have been accepted into a month long medical studies summer program at the Bukhari school in Lahore. Her father is adamantly against the idea, since he is appalled when she does something as simple as riding a bicycle, because it is somehow unseemly for a girl to do this. When her older sister, Shabnam, visits with her doctor husband, Sohail, the idea comes up for Hafsa to stay with Shabnam while she attends the program, which Sohail offers to pay for. In a surprise move, Hafsa's grandmother jumps with with her agreement to send Hafsa, stopping her son from forbidding it! Hafsa is surprised at how opulent Sohail's family home is, and a bit concerned that Shabnam is helping Sohail's mother with a hospital fund raising gala rather than going to culinary school. Another concern is that the medical camp is being held the next year, and the focus of the current program is climate change. Since it was difficult to attend this year, there is little hope of returning. One teacher lets Hafsa watch the recorded videos from the previous year, so she does get some of the medical information. The program is interesting, and Hafsa takes a particular interest in an elephant, Gulab, at the local zoo, even though other students make fun of her "dancing" with the elephant in a quiet moment. At the zoo, she runs into Tariq, who is also worried that Gulab is not receiving the best care, and the two work to get Gulab's situation more attention. Hafsa talks to Sohail about the fact that Shabnam is working so hard on the gala that she has set aside her dream to open a cupcake bakery, which causes a few family problems, but also opens communication. Hafsa's attempts to get Gulab's case media attention are successful, and the school offers her a scholarship to the camp the following year because of her work. Sohail's mother agrees to hire a team to help with the ever increasing work for the gala, and the book ends on a positive note.
Strengths: I read this book and Hicks' Inbetweens on the same night, and now I want to go to a summer program! While these tend to be expensive, they are so helpful, and it was interesting to see depictions of programs in both the US and Pakistan. Of course, I would rather send my own children to a medical program, and climate change is every bit as important to study. There's just enough information about climate change and its effects to be interesting, but not so many that the story is bogged down in details. There's a personal face of the issues with Gulab; readers who love animals will want to read this for the details about elephants. The family dynamics are well depicted, and US readers will find it interesting that Shabnam was married relatively young to a man picked out for her by her parents. It was nice to see a glimpse of Amal at the beginning of the story.
Weaknesses: I would have adored this as a middle school student, but while Amal Unbound remains popular in my library, I've had trouble getting readers to pick up titles like Omar Rising. I'll probably purchase a copy, because I think it's an important story to read. Just don't understand why young people are not curious about the world.
What I really think: This is a great choice for readers who want to see what every day life is like in countries other than the US and who enjoyed stories like Abbas's Aarzu All Around, Perkins's The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery, or Bajaj's Thirst.
I hesitate to mention this book, but since it caught me a bit off guard, it might surprise others as well. Even if librarians and teachers don't read every book they hand to students, they should have a good idea of what the stories contain. This might be exactly what you are looking for in a book; it is just not something I will be purchasing.
March 31, 2026 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
**Spoilers**
While I very much enjoyed seeing the depiction of daily life in Gujarat in 1999 (and was amazed that there were so many cultural references that are the same in the US!), the exploration of colorism, and Chandni's struggles to get into boarding school, I'm not sure that I want to personally hand middle school readers a story where the father is having an affair with the mother's sister, Diya Masi. Not only that, but Diya Masi lives in the family home, shares a room with Chandni, and while Chandni knows about the affair (and is told that the mother is okay with it), the mother does not and is devastated at the end of the book. There are no details at all about any activity, so my objection doesn't lie there. This is a novel in verse, and I wish there were more support for Chandni throughout, because this would be a devastating secret with which to live.
This was lyrical and heart felt, but perhaps just not the right choice for my readers in grades 6-8. If this is something that appeals to you, by all means take a look.
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