Everyday Struggles - The Stories of Muslim Teens

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Customer Reviews

• Author: Ali Abbas
  I have to cautious the reader, that as a reviewer, I am biased towards the book. For several reasons, (1) I am an immigrant transplated within the American Diaspora (2) I have two little girls, aged 8 and 5 and (3) not having grown up within the very culture and educational system that nurtures and challenges the self identity of our children, especially girls, I was humbled to take a back seat, sit back, and understand their world, their day to day challenges. It was developing this sense of perspective that was very very valuable to me
  
  Importantly, the climate of Islamophobia that is so pervasive in the media (whether that be print or audio), it presents many a challenges to our children, especially girls (all the write ups were from girls). What was also striking about the book, was the book cover. It portrays a sense of inclusiveness that muslims girls come in all different facets of their faith: one who adorns the veil and the other who doesnt - yet they both are caught in the spiral of
  
  (a) being with the cool group at school, and all the trappings that come with it
  (b) having to define themselves through movie characters clothing, and then challenging the very norms that the media poses and imposes on them, nurtured through peer pressure
  (c) the perspective of a feminist who turns to Islam much later, while understanding the place of and role of men and women in their natural sphere of things in life
  (d) and of-course prom night
  
  The writers will take you through an inner journey of their souls, their fears, their reluctance to come out and declare who they truly are, or their fears in loosing their friendships that they fostered over the years, over rites of initiations etc
  
  I recommend this work to any father or mother - particularly working parents. Our children go through a lot, espcecially when they are attending public schools. Just because they dont mention it at home, doesnt mean that matters are fine. They may or may not be.
  
  I would like to end this with a quote from one of the girls, who had decided to do a presentation on Islam in her class as a part of an assignment, despite her fears of it being accepted or viewed negatively, that "at least she wasnt able to transform the way the World Views her faith, but she was Comfortable knowing that the 29 Students in the Class came out appreciating and valuing what her faith offers her, stands for, and not what the print media portray it as other-wise"
  
  Well done, Abbas