Looking for Imani

Looking for Imani by Dianne Bates (Woodslane Press), RRP $16.99 Middle Grade ISBN 9-781922-800985

Reviewed by Susan Hancy

Nabila is only 12 years old and already bears the weight of family responsibility. Her family immigrated from Syria to Australia, but her father has since passed away. Her mother still lives in fear of his former rule, scared to learn English and socialise. Her mother is depressed, constantly sleeping during the day, thereby leaving the care of her three younger children to Nabila. Furthermore, pockets of neighbourhood anti-immigrant vitriol have led to their letterbox being damaged and a brick thrown through their window.

When they can no longer pay their bills for essentials, Nabila takes the day off school to accompany her mother to social services. Nabila entrusts the walking home from school of her 5-year-old sister, Imani, to her two middle siblings, Abdullah and Layla. Unbeknownst to Nabila, Abdullah cuts school and isn’t there to help Layla with Imani. Layla arrives home distraught and in tears. She’s lost Imani, who ran away when Layla wouldn’t take her to the shopping mall.

What ensues is a heart-wrenching race against time spanning three days in which Nabila has to step up for her mother yet again: engaging the police, begging strangers for help and supporting the anguish of her siblings and mother during their desperate search for Imani. But the worst of times can also bring out the best in people, and Nabila is surprised by the unexpected kindnesses and help she receives from neighbours and the community.

The subject of a missing child naturally has the potential to take the reader’s mind down a path too gruesome for a middle grade novel. However, the author steers us away from this by including some chapters that tell us how the story is unfolding from Imani’s point of view. Even so, the suspense in the narrative still remains and the reader is kept guessing how events will unfold until the end of the book.

What I equally liked about this story is the perspective it brings for the barriers which non-English speaking immigrants are faced with day in, day out, and how those obstacles can intensify in times of adversity.