Does my Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Abdel-Fattah, R. (2008). Does My Head Look Big In This? (p. 368). Scholastic Paperbacks.

ISBN: 043992233X

Classification: book, fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Age Level: 8th-12th grade

Subjects: fiction, prejudice, identity, friends

Reader's Annotation: Amal decided to wear her hijab whenever she is in public as a demonstration of her faith, but her school friends don't exactly know how to react to her choice.

Summary: While working out on her treadmill and watching a rerun of "Friends," sixteen year old Amal decides she is ready to be a "full-timer," to wear her hijab whenever she's in public or with people outside her family. She makes a list of people she thinks will be fine with the idea and another list of people she suspects will be either uncomfortable or downright hostile about her decision. She sticks with it, though, finding inspiration and understanding in some surprising places. She also begins to understand that faith, identity and prejudice all take many different forms, and that she, too, could stand to learn a few lessons about tolerance.

Reviews / Awards:

Starred review in Booklist

Amazon Reviews

Author Info:
Author Information on Scholastic.com

Potential Hotspots:

family conflict, prejudice

Readalikes:

• An Abundance of Katharines by John Green
  

Why it belongs in a YA collection:
This book covers a huge range of teen identity and self-esteem issues, beyond Amal's decision to wear the hijab, and I imagine almost every reader would find a character in this story that is familiar. This book does an excellent job of explaining why some women wear the hijab.

Other:

Funny, insightful, this book does a great job of explaining the signficance of the hijab, and making it just one of the many issues teenagers deal with before heading out the door to school in the morning.

Evaluation:

4 stars