Wanting Mor

April 1, 2009
Grades 5-8 Inthis novelsheartbreaking opening, a young Afghani girl, Jameela, discovers that her ill mother (Mor) has died in the night. Within a month, her father moves with Jameela to Kabul and marries a widow, who treats Jameela like a slave. When the widows son shows interest in Jameela, the widow is furious, and the next morning, Jameelas father leads her through the dusty maze of Kabul and abandonsher on a street corner. Ultimately, Jameela is placed in an orphanage, and her story takes an upward turn as she goes to school and has surgeryto correcther deformed lip. Set in 2001, this compelling story is based on real incidents. Jameelas matter-of-fact, first-person narrative will awaken young readers to life and conditions in Afghanistan. The story is packed with Pushto words that may slow some readers, but a helpful glossary is included. Pair this with The Breadwinner (2001) by Deborah Ellis for a picture of life before the American invasion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
After her mother's death, Jameela's father takes her from her rural Afghan home to war-wracked Kabul, where he abandons her. Delivered to an orphanage, Jameela flourishes, making a family of her own. Readers will sympathize with the main character and rejoice in the story's ultimate outcome. Khan, a Pakistani-born Canadian, bases her novel on an actual child's experience. Glos.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2009
After her mother's death, Jameela's hapless father takes her from her rural Afghan home to Kabul (a city wracked by war and, in 2001, occupied by American soldiers), where he remarries and then abandons her at the market. Luckily, a kindly butcher rescues her, delivering her to an orphanage where she flourishes -- learning to read, having her cleft lip repaired, and making a kind of family of her own. Khan, a Pakistani-born Canadian, bases her novel on an actual child's experience recounted in an orphanage report, crediting her Afghan sister-in-law for the details that help bring Jameela's experience to life. Jameela's explanations, sometimes intrusive in the first-person narrative, will nonetheless aid readers unfamiliar with the far-off world of rural and urban Afghanistan. A searing opening chapter describing Jameela's discovery of her mother's dead body will draw readers into the girl's story. While they may find her traditional beliefs and behaviors a little too foreign for identification, they will certainly sympathize with her and rejoice in the ultimate outcome. An extensive glossary is appended.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)