The Hijab Boutique

August 15, 2011

Farah, a fifth-grade student of Indian Muslim origins at a fancy girls' school in Los Angeles, must bring in something representing her mom for International Women's Day, but the usually creative student can't imagine what would impress her classmates.

When her mother finds her looking through her closet, Farah feels guilty, but her mother reveals that she herself has a secret. Widowed a few years before, Farah's mom is opening "The Hijab Boutique," a store selling Muslim headscarves. Farah finds a topic for her speech, and her mom makes a new start. Some explanations of Islamic practice are woven into the novella, particularly a discussion of why some women wear the hijab. The contemporary story has subplots concerning friendship and cliques, but the leaden prose will limit readership. Narrator Farah reflects on her father's gold convertible: "I find the courage to stare at the symbolic fruit of his hard work." In the final chapter, "Conclusion," Farah too quickly tells readers that the "Cool as Ice" girls aren't so important, and she feels good in a new neighborhood, where she has joined the Muslim Girl Scouts and has a new friend. The realistic black-and-white pencil illustration that accompanies this summation shows her wearing a hijab.

Books about North American Muslim life are badly needed, but this short novel is too pedantic, albeit well-meaning, to appeal broadly. (Fiction. 9-11)

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October 1, 2011
Grades 3-5 Farah Khan is close to her loving, widowed mother, but when the assignment for International Women's Day at her prestigious, all-girls school in Los Angeles is to bring something that symbolizes her mother, Farah does not know what she can take to her fifth-grade class. How can she avoid the jeers of the cool as ice crowd with their fancy-schmancy stuff? Published by the Islamic Foundation, this story has a heavy message as Farah talks to her momand to the readerabout hijab and what it means. But many kids will want to know all about it, and the tension builds to Farah's presentation as she shows that hijab is not a sign of women being oppressed and can be ultrachic, including a great variety of colors, fabrics, styles, and patterns. Many full-page, black-and-white illustrations show Farah at home and in the classroom, with a final view of her wearing hijab. A great title for discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)