By Aamna Qureshi
ISBN: 9781643795058
If there was a coming-of-age movie about a Muslim teen in the US which is a tad bit over dramatic, it might be an adaptation of ‘When a Brown Girl Flees’. The book is a welcome addition to YA genre for Muslim teens but leaves the reader wanting better story telling.
Synopsis:
“After Zahra Paracha makes a decision at odds with her beliefs, her mother forces Zahra to make an impossible choice about her future. So Zahra runs away. A train and a plane ride later, she finds herself in New York, where she relinquishes her past in favor of a new future. There, she must learn who she is without the marionette strings of control in her mother’s hands. There, she must learn who she wishes to become.
On Long Island, Zahra stays at a bed & breakfast, unsure of her place in the world. Anxious, depressed, and grappling with guilt, she wanders aimlessly. She eventually visits the local masjid, where she is befriended by two sisters and drawn into the welcoming Muslim community there.
It is in this place of safety that Zahra’s healing truly begins–but can she create a home for herself when the foundation is built on lies she’s spun to protect her from the past? When a family friend recognizes her, will everything come crashing down? As Zahra tries to build a life for herself in this new place, the heart of the matter becomes clear: she can’t run away forever. Can she close the rift in her family and truly, fully heal?”
What’s to like:
Aamna clearly drew from her own experiences of growing up in a Pakistani immigrant household in the US. Her use of Urdu phrases makes the dialogues authentic. The book is in that way adding to the stories available for immigrant teens, especially second-generation Muslims, which they can relate to.
As a YA novel, Muslim teens can relate to the story of trying to navigate life in the US/West and growing up while holding on to their religion.
What’s not to like:
The writing itself is mediocre. There are a lot of repetitive monologues of Zahra which make the prose boring. Moreover, some parts are a little too idealistic, sweet and mushy. Imagine running into a random person, moving into their house and becoming best friends with them in the matter of a few weeks. Nope, hard to imagine.
In general, it seems that the author tries to do too much at one time with the story. YA novels all seem to focus on mental health issues these days, which is mostly good unless its overdone, but then toss in teenage peer pressure coupled with cultural expectations, wanting to be true to one’s religion and it just makes the story all over the place. It feels that the story touches on a lot of things on surface level only. The author could also have provided more context about how the cultural pressures and expectations of Zahra’s parents led to her severe mental health issues because it isn’t clear.
Lastly, and this I have a big issue with, the storyline itself just seems absurd in places. Clearly, Zahra cares about her faith, she made a mistake and committed a major sin but there is not much context to it. How did she just do it out of the blue just because there was no parental supervision? I felt that as a reader I wanted to know more about her internal thoughts, the lead up to the act because there must have been some hesitation. Zahra is shown to be religious, yet she seems to care more about her parents’ disapproval (and ran away because of it) rather than guilt of committing a sin or displeasing Allah. It is only later in the book that her guilt surfaces and she asks for forgiveness.
Being a Muslim I had higher expectations from this book than a typical YA book because it is such a delicate age and there is a lot that needs to be figured out about life. Overall, it is a nice book, but it leaves the reader with wanting more from it.
Book Review Rating: 3/5 – Feel Good
Clean Content Rating: Intermediate
Content Warnings: Mental health issues, pre-marital relations and some swearing. Age advisory: 18+