2. Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

read on my iPhone
copyright info
197 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF, Cultural information
Finished 1/5/18
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 2133 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  contemporary Milwaukee, WI

First line/s:  "Something sharp pokes me in the rib.  "You should really sign up for a solo," Soojin whispers from the seat behind me in music class.

My comments:  This was a quiet, lovely book about a very sweet girl and her family.  I loved all the Pakistani-American information, as well as all the went along with Amina's best friend, Soojin's, citizenship. I'm not even sure why I'm not jumping up and down about it.  There were no surprises, everything worked out well, and there were a lot of stereotypical situations (bullying, jealousy, sibling relationships) .  It wasn't a deep book, it scratched the surface, and will be a nice read for many middle grade girls.

Goodreads synopsis: Amina has never been comfortable in the spotlight. She is happy just hanging out with her best friend, Soojin. Except now that she’s in middle school everything feels different. Soojin is suddenly hanging out with Emily, one of the “cool” girls in the class, and even talking about changing her name to something more “American.” Does Amina need to start changing too? Or hiding who she is to fit in? While Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized. 

Chirchir is Singing – Kelly Cunnane

Illustrated by Jude Daly

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011

HC $17.99

32 pages

Rating:  4.5

Endpapers:  Brown earth with a few floating musical notes

Title Page:  her family, walking across the page.  Full color.

Illustrations:  cover most of page, in acrylics.  Sparse yet detailed.  Give a real feel for the setting.

Setting:  Contemporary northwestern Kenya, Kalenjin tribe

OSS:  Young Chirchir wants to help her family with the chores, but is a little too young to be able to actually help.

We meet Chirchir’s family as they are working.  Mama, who is drawing water from the well; Kogo, her grandmother, tending fire to cook chai; Ji-Bet, her sister, spreading a fresh layer of cow dung and ashes on the floor of the kitchen hut; Baba, her father, digging potatoes in the hill garden.  She sings everywhere she goes.  And so she sings to her baby brother, which keeps him entertained , as her voice travels to the rest of her family and keeps them happy, too.

Great language…simile and metaphor, with info in the back about this culture and a glossary and pronounciationguide for the Swahili words used.