Wanting Mor

by Rukhsana Khan Narrated by Rogin Rashidan

Overview

Winner of the Middle East Book Award, Youth Fiction category

Jameela lives with her mother and father in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that there is no school in their poor, war-torn village, and Jameela lives with a birth defect that has left her with a cleft lip, she feels relatively secure, sustained by her faith and the strength of her beloved mother, Mor.

But when Mor suddenly dies, Jameela's father impulsively decides to seek a new life in Kabul. He remarries, a situation that turns Jameela into a virtual slave to her demanding stepmother. When the stepmother discovers that Jameela is trying to learn to read, she urges her father to simply abandon the child in Kabul's busy marketplace. Jameela ends up in an orphanage.

Throughout it all, it is the memory of Mor that anchors her and in the end gives Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them into her life again.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

This short novel looks at life in Afghanistan just after the fall of the Taliban. When Jameela's devout mother dies, her father-who has always strayed from the rules, dabbling in opium, skipping his prayers-abruptly moves them from the country to Kabul, where he lives a more Westernized lifestyle (alcohol included) and has little patience-especialy after his new wife complains-for a daughter who is unattractive, devout and a bit too good to be true. So he abandons Jameela at an orphanage. Khan's tale was inspired by true events, and touches on many issues about women and beauty in an Afghanistan in the midst of chaos and change, but Jameela lacks depth: Her faith often stands in for character, and even when she questions, she merely questions why she can't be better. Secondary characters sometimes behave according to plot needs rather than character, and the passage of time and other minor details are often unclear. Despite the flaws, this fills a niche and does so with respect for the people and places described-and with sometimes downright lovely language. (author's note, glossary) (Fiction. 10-14)

VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)

...[T]he storyteller's descriptive language is lovely... Her characters are realistic...Young readers' eyes will be opened to life in another culture. Teens will enjoy this book, especially if the liked Three Cups of Tea...

Children's Book News

...The unique hero sees open roads, where others might only squint at dead ends.

Horn Book

A searing opening chapter...will draw readers into [Jameela's] story...[Readers] will certainly sympathize with her and rejoice in the ultimate outcome.

Globe and Mail

...Khan's account of [Jameela's] life...makes for good reading. As narrator, Jameela looks out in the world of Islamic Afghanistan from behind her chador, and it is her perspective...of that world that gives this book both its immediacy and its singularity.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175128261
Publisher:	House of Anansi Press Inc
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Videos