Listen, Layla

 

Listen, Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied (Penguin) PB RRP $16.999 ISBN 9781760896065

Abdel-Magied is a black Muslim woman who founded Youth Without Borders at the age of 16, leading it for nine years; as well, she co-founded two other organisations, and has worked as an engineer on Australian oil rigs. She has also written a debut memoir, Yassmin’s Story, and a fiction book for younger readers, You Must Be Layla. Now she has added to her extensive curriculum vitae with this novel for readers aged 9+ years.

In Listen, Layla, the protagonist, a scholarship student, Layla, has ended the school year on a high and can’t wait to spend the holidays hanging out with her friends, and designing a prize-winning Grand Designs Tourismo invention. However, her plans are interrupted when her grandmother in Sudan falls ill and the family rush to her. The last time Layla went to Sudan she was only a young child. Now she feels torn between her work as an inventor for the competition and her family obligations. She desperately wants to go on the Special International Invention Tour (SIIT), but her father forbids it.

In Sudan, Layla experiences a conflict of loyalties, not knowing if she is still Sudaniya. She decides to help her cousins, including Ma’ab to protest in the civil unrest against the corrupt government, at the same time secretly defying her father by emailing her school with design ideas instead of visiting her grandmother in hospital.

Abdel-Magied works hard to show how children with parents born overseas, especially Muslims, are conflicted. Throughout the story, liberal use is made of Arabic words and phrases such as Inshallah (if God wills it). Layla’s best friends are Ethan and Seb who has recently come out as gay. Other friends are Chinese and Pakistani. It makes one wonder if the author is trying too hard to be politically correct. From time to time, she uses the following expressions which are difficult to interpret: ‘She kissed her (own) lips’, and ‘Janey Mack.’

To assist the reader, the book has a seven page glossary of Arabic words and phrases.

For readers interested in learning more about Muslim and Sudanese culture, this book is recommended.

KY!

KY! By Clancy Tucker (Clancy Tucker Publishing)

PB RRP $25.00 (including postage)

EBook $3.99

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com.au/s?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Clancy%20Tucker&search-alias=digital-text
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=CLANCY+TUCKER
ISBN 9780646932262

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Rida is caught between two cultures. She is the only Muslim girl at her school, and she wears glasses and a hijab. She also loves books so is classed as a nerd by her peers. This mixture leaves her open to ridicule, emotional and physical bullying, which she is afraid to report. It also sees her isolated from the rest of the students.

Then she meets Ky, a Cambodian refugee who also loves books. At last Rida has a friend.

On a day when her two tormentors are pursuing her, she runs into a house where an old man is tending his garden. This rose garden becomes a haven; somewhere she can hide from the bullies, read and feel safe until she can get home. The man will also play a significant role in Rida’s future.

It seems she’s always running – to get away from bullies, to get to safety, or to reach home. When Mr Conan the sports master asks her to run in the inter school sports, she accepts. She learns that Ky has leukaemia and is seriously ill.

Rida has tried to fit in at school; not be so nerdy. She stops reading during recess, becomes a part-timer in not wearing her hijab during school hours. If she wins the race, will people like her more? Or will that be one more reason to dislike her?

Inspired by Ky’s presence and despite her grave illness, Rida wins the 400 metres and the relay wearing her hijab. Their school gets the trophy, and all the differences that were obstacles disappear. She is now one of them and the school’s hero with respect and acceptance.

This poignant and inspiring novella, Clancy Tucker’s first short novel, uses the backstory and generous dialogue as a gateway into awareness about the lives of refugees. The reasons they embark on treacherous journeys to reach a safe country and a possible future without fear and threat of death are told through the children’s voice and experiences. It also focuses on the endless possibilities for children’s lives, no matter what their origins, to be turned around when opportunity is made available to them.

Other themes, and there are many in this excellent story, cover cancer in children, hope, kindness and love, family unity, and how people are more than their external appearance or specific beliefs.

Alana Oakley: Mystery and Mayhem

Alana Oakley: Mystery and Mayhem by Poppy Inkwell (Big Sky Publishing)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 781925275124

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

Energy, madcap mayhem and eccentric personalities are the main features of this novel pitched at girls aged 11 to 13 years. The two main characters are 12 year old Alana and her journalist mother Emma, each of whose stories are told in alternating chapters. Alana, whose father died three years earlier, is dreading the approach of her birthday as catastrophes seem to be their hallmark (note: dancing llamas and juggling fire-breather). Meanwhile, Alana begins Gibson High School with her besties, an Aboriginal girl Maddie and Sophie, who is the only girl in a family of five sons and no father. On the first day of school the three girls meet up with a new Muslim girl, Khalilah, whom they quickly befriend.

Mum’s friends Ling Ling and Katriona are also a colourful duo, fashionistas who seem determined to undermine Emma’s attempts to interview the mega-famous rock star sensation Slam Guru. Emma’s exclusive opportunity goes awry when the singer freaks out at seeing Katriona, who has stalked him overseas (not that she sees this as a problem.)

At school during her first lesson, a valuable charm goes missing which sets Alana and her mates on a quest to find out who has (probably) stolen it. Non-stop action ensues as the hunt goes on and Alana and her gang try to negotiate school hazards such as their Nazi-like physical education coach and over-the-top nurse. Then there’s Emma who seems destined to date what might be a mass-murderer she’s met online. Over-hanging all the non-stop escapades is Alana’s fear of her upcoming birthday and what might go wrong this time.

The author has set this fast-paced, sometimes melodramatic tale in Sydney’s inner suburbs and there is a convincing sense of place as the characters traverse areas such as Redfern and Newtown. The book’s characters, on the other hand, are so wildly different from the norm and their antics so exaggerated that the reader simply has to go along for the ride and accept that life in the extended Oakley world is quite outrageous.

Each of the chapters is given headings which foretell what’s to come – such as ‘Tattoos, chooks and botched translations,’ ‘Intense. Insane. Same-same lah!’ and ‘Treading the fine line between fun, Fun and no fun at all.’ 

This book is certainly very different to the usual fare for teens.