Piece by Piece by Priya Huq

📚 Piece by Piece 📚

Author/Illustrator: Priya Huq

Publisher: Amulet

Age: 12+

Islamic Content: Hijab

Concerns: islamophobia, violence, some cussing

Summary:

This story is set in 2002. After Nirsin, a Bangladeshi American girl is physically assaulted for playfully having a hijab on, she is goes in a spiral of anxiety trying to understand who she is. She decides to wear her hijab, while her family is completely against it. Nisrin navigates and learns to cope with family school and her surrounding when she embarks on this change in her apparel.

Review:

I wasn't sure what to expect from this graphic novel. I have mixed feelings about this book and the execution of the story. I love that Nisrin in this story decides she will embrace part of her religious identity on her own. Her mother and her grandparents are not religious, and she knows minimal about faith. Her father's religiosity is mentioned however her father is not in the picture. While I find it empowering that she is taking on such a big decision, as a reader I found it difficult to understand that choice when she is so uninformed about hijab or even Islam itself.

There are glimpses of why her family is against her hijab, mainly due to their traumas of war in Bangladesh. However, I found myself asking more and wanting more details of explanation about it so I can understand the extent of why they have such strong feelings against their deen.

I think a narrative like this needs to be told. A young girl donning her hijab while struggling to have her non-practicing Muslim family understand her choice. It is an experience that so many young Muslim women face. However, I needed to see her soul-searching journey so I am able to emotionally connected with her hijab as a reader. None the less, it is a story that might interest your teens and spark a great discussion.

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