aidahdefilippo's review
5.0
In about 15 years, “Muslim Fiction” is going to claim it’s rightful place as a distinct and thriving genre, and The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf will be the first book in the canon.
Mohja Kahf’s book is a wildly familiar look into life in a Muslim-American family that rings true for people in all corners of the country (and probably Canada). While some of the other reviews here say this is a good read for non-Muslims who want a primer on the lives of Muslim Americans, let me say that I don’t think y’all are the primary audience of this book. Kahf writes from what is obviously very personal experience, but this is by no means a primer. This is a raw, uncensored, gotta-ask-your-imam-if-that’s-true-afterwards type of book. If you don’t know anything about Muslims, this will be a very confusing ride for you.
Anyway -- the actual book. It’s clear from the get-up that Kahf is a talented writer, moving effortlessly from 3rd person narration to the flow of stream of consciousness from Khadra’s perspective. It’s good stuff. While Khadra is not always this loveable, do-no-wrong protagonist, she comes across as a real human (a strong perk of writing such realistic fiction). She is not a hero or villain, role model or scare tactic; she is just Khadra from Indianapolis, and she’s the character that we all need to read sometimes to remind ourselves that our experiences are painful, amazing, unhappy, difficult, and above all that, normal.
Mohja Kahf’s book is a wildly familiar look into life in a Muslim-American family that rings true for people in all corners of the country (and probably Canada). While some of the other reviews here say this is a good read for non-Muslims who want a primer on the lives of Muslim Americans, let me say that I don’t think y’all are the primary audience of this book. Kahf writes from what is obviously very personal experience, but this is by no means a primer. This is a raw, uncensored, gotta-ask-your-imam-if-that’s-true-afterwards type of book. If you don’t know anything about Muslims, this will be a very confusing ride for you.
Anyway -- the actual book. It’s clear from the get-up that Kahf is a talented writer, moving effortlessly from 3rd person narration to the flow of stream of consciousness from Khadra’s perspective. It’s good stuff. While Khadra is not always this loveable, do-no-wrong protagonist, she comes across as a real human (a strong perk of writing such realistic fiction). She is not a hero or villain, role model or scare tactic; she is just Khadra from Indianapolis, and she’s the character that we all need to read sometimes to remind ourselves that our experiences are painful, amazing, unhappy, difficult, and above all that, normal.
marymanor's review
3.0
While I enjoyed this book, I was distracted by the "present time" story line that bipped up here and there but didn't really have a reason to. It seemed that all of the information could have been provided in chronological order. I understand starting at the current moment and then moving back in time to the "beginning," but the infrequent moves forward struck me as out of place.
mbondlamberty's review
5.0
Enjoyed this book very much. The different experiences of being a Muslim woman in different parts of the world/country is very informative.
tarinahmed's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
geving28's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
yara13's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
edenrosezabo's review
5.0
This is a beautiful piece of writing. As someone who grew up in Indiana and attends Indiana University, I loved reading about the Muslim experience in setting I identify with and understand. Kahf captures the feelings of confusion when outgrowing fundamental religion and her narrator’s search for her own personal truth within religion is beautiful. I loved this book and the many emotional situations it addresses.
towardinfinitybooks's review
2.0
Mohja Kahf's fiction debut tells the story of Khadra Shamy, a Syrian Muslim girl who, at a young age, moves with her family to the United States during the 1970s, and grows up in Indiana. Khadra's parents struggle to raise their children in accordance with Islamic values, while awash in a mostly Caucasian, Christian, and very American environment. The reader follows Khadra's journey to understand herself as an American Muslim well into adulthood. She travels to Syria after her marriage breaks down, and while there, learns her mother's secrets and the meaning of prayer. She lives in Philadelphia, away from the confines of the Indiana community she was raised in, and discovers Jewish friends and a passion for photography. And finally, the reader follows Khadra when she is finally able to go home again.
Khadra's childhood and adolescence are peopled with other Muslim families with a wide variety of backgrounds. There's Aunt Khadija and Uncle Jamal al-Deen, who came to orthodox Islam by way of the Nation of Islam; the Abdul-Kadir family, Cambodian Muslims who work as doctors and engineers, rather than as full-time members of the Dawah Center; and Tayiba Thoreau's family, which consists of a Muslim American convert married to an African woman from Kenya. Through Khadra's childish perspective, Kahf creates a community of families born of differing backgrounds. As Khadra grows up, the reader also is introduced to the very real tensions that occur within the American Muslim community, as a result of immigrant beliefs about Islam colliding with converts' beliefs. There are also hints and mild suggestions that though the immigrant Muslims purport to hold different values from their American counterparts, there are more similarities than they would think.
Most of my complaints with Kahf's book are related to writing. I found the first half of the book, which describes Khadra's childhood and coming of age in Indiana, most engaging. It somewhat mirrored my personal experiences, but in terms of writing, I felt that it was too imitative of the style of Sandra Cisneros. Kahf herself has admitted in interviews that she has included direct quotes as tributes to her favorite writers (including Cisneros). There is no doubt that the quality of the writing was quite good, but I think I would have liked it better if it had more of an original effect, rather than the imitative effect that I perceived.
There is a certain "chick-lit" element to the book that I found irritating. It almost seemed as if a romantic possibility had been thrown into the book to make it more appealing to a certain type of audience or to make the book more mainstream. I wasn't and still am not entirely sure what the point of that side-plot was.
The book lacks a plot, which would not be a huge problem (for me) if some of the other issues were resolved. (Indeed, one of my favorite books, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, has the same sort of trajectory as Kahf's does - it is simply the story of a girl growing up in a certain time and in a certain place, and how she develops as a person.) The plot in Kahf's book is a girl growing up as a Muslim in America, and some may argue that that is enough of a plot as it is. Along the same lines, in terms of the structure of the book, the ending felt incomplete and was easily forgettable.
On a personal note, at times I found the content of the book unnervingly familiar. On the other hand, the book is almost too familiar, and may have lent to my dislike of it. I think I may be entering a phase, personally, where I've heard enough of the points that often get raised about political and religious progress in conversations among Muslims, so that when those discussions were described in the book, I got impatient. It seemed that there was nothing there I hadn't heard already. However, I recognize that to readers who haven't grown up in similar situations, these discussions would be new, and perhaps, interesting.
I read a couple of reviews by non-Muslims online because I was curious to see whether they had had the same reaction. I personally would not recommend this book to non-Muslims who want to learn more about the tenets of Islam. It seems like it would be more appropriate as a casual read to understand one (of many) types of environments in which American Muslims grow up. Most of the reviews I read by non-Muslims saw the book as an eye-opener to both Muslims living in the United States and those abroad (in the Middle East). Many of them do note, however, that a glossary and guide to Kahf's invocation of Arabic terms would have been useful, and that they did not have a greater understanding of Islam as a religion.
Khadra's childhood and adolescence are peopled with other Muslim families with a wide variety of backgrounds. There's Aunt Khadija and Uncle Jamal al-Deen, who came to orthodox Islam by way of the Nation of Islam; the Abdul-Kadir family, Cambodian Muslims who work as doctors and engineers, rather than as full-time members of the Dawah Center; and Tayiba Thoreau's family, which consists of a Muslim American convert married to an African woman from Kenya. Through Khadra's childish perspective, Kahf creates a community of families born of differing backgrounds. As Khadra grows up, the reader also is introduced to the very real tensions that occur within the American Muslim community, as a result of immigrant beliefs about Islam colliding with converts' beliefs. There are also hints and mild suggestions that though the immigrant Muslims purport to hold different values from their American counterparts, there are more similarities than they would think.
Most of my complaints with Kahf's book are related to writing. I found the first half of the book, which describes Khadra's childhood and coming of age in Indiana, most engaging. It somewhat mirrored my personal experiences, but in terms of writing, I felt that it was too imitative of the style of Sandra Cisneros. Kahf herself has admitted in interviews that she has included direct quotes as tributes to her favorite writers (including Cisneros). There is no doubt that the quality of the writing was quite good, but I think I would have liked it better if it had more of an original effect, rather than the imitative effect that I perceived.
There is a certain "chick-lit" element to the book that I found irritating. It almost seemed as if a romantic possibility had been thrown into the book to make it more appealing to a certain type of audience or to make the book more mainstream. I wasn't and still am not entirely sure what the point of that side-plot was.
The book lacks a plot, which would not be a huge problem (for me) if some of the other issues were resolved. (Indeed, one of my favorite books, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, has the same sort of trajectory as Kahf's does - it is simply the story of a girl growing up in a certain time and in a certain place, and how she develops as a person.) The plot in Kahf's book is a girl growing up as a Muslim in America, and some may argue that that is enough of a plot as it is. Along the same lines, in terms of the structure of the book, the ending felt incomplete and was easily forgettable.
On a personal note, at times I found the content of the book unnervingly familiar. On the other hand, the book is almost too familiar, and may have lent to my dislike of it. I think I may be entering a phase, personally, where I've heard enough of the points that often get raised about political and religious progress in conversations among Muslims, so that when those discussions were described in the book, I got impatient. It seemed that there was nothing there I hadn't heard already. However, I recognize that to readers who haven't grown up in similar situations, these discussions would be new, and perhaps, interesting.
I read a couple of reviews by non-Muslims online because I was curious to see whether they had had the same reaction. I personally would not recommend this book to non-Muslims who want to learn more about the tenets of Islam. It seems like it would be more appropriate as a casual read to understand one (of many) types of environments in which American Muslims grow up. Most of the reviews I read by non-Muslims saw the book as an eye-opener to both Muslims living in the United States and those abroad (in the Middle East). Many of them do note, however, that a glossary and guide to Kahf's invocation of Arabic terms would have been useful, and that they did not have a greater understanding of Islam as a religion.
gwend's review
4.0
Gives a detailed portrait of what it is like to grow up in America within a Muslim immigrant culture. I really enjoyed learning about all the aspects of American culture that seemed so weird and poor form to the Syrian family. She uses lots of Arabic words and references to Muslim religion and culture, and I got lost at times, so I gave it just 4 stars for that reason. Would have been nice to have more explanation. But a very worthwhile read to understand current events via a coming of age novel.