A review by nicolemhewitt
More to the Story by Hena Khan

5.0

This modern Muslim retelling of Little Women is a perfect MG read! I’ll confess that I’ve never read the original, so I can’t make any comparisons, but I can attest to the fact that this was a wonderful read, even without knowing the details of the story it retells. Jameela is a bright young girl whose greatest desire is to be a writer one day and make her father proud. But when her father has to go out of the country on business and her beloved little sister gets sick, Jameela’s life is turned upside down. In the meantime, she also faces a dilemma with her journalism that lands her in trouble with her new family friend (and kind-of crush?). The themes of this book seem truly timeless, so I’m not surprised that it’s a retelling of a classic. When Jameela’s sister gets sick, the thing that gets them through it all is the strong bonds they have with friends and family. This support system is the highlight of the book and shows how we can rally together in times of crisis. Kids who like to write will relate to Jameela’s journalistic ambitions, but even those who aren’t interested in journalism will find themselves pulled into Jameela’s dilemmas with how to write a worthy story (without ruining her friendships in the process). Overall, this was a wonderful read!

NARRATION: I ended up listening to the audiobook version, and the narration by Priya Ayyar was wonderful!

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review purposes (but then ended up listening to the audiobook from my local library). No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***