Amina's Song (Amina's Voice) (2024)

Amina is back in the sequel to 'Amina's Voice' and this time the books starts while she is visiting their relatives in Pakistan. While there she realizes that it is easy to form an opinion of an entire country based on one or two news stories. She herself had been apprehensive about visiting her the home country of her parents until Baba talked through it with her. Before she returns to the states, her uncle asks her to share the good things about Pakistan with people in the US. For a 7th grader, that is a big ask and at first it seems impossible. She chooses Malala as her wax museum project and then realizes that the Taliban does not give her classmates a view of Pakistan that would make them want to visit. She also befriends a new student named Nico who is passionate about making his own beats. Could Nico help Amina write a song using the journal she started after returning from Pakistan? Will her song be something that makes her family proud and reflects their love for their home country? Along with the project and songwriting, Amina is also talking with her friends and family about ways they can help others. Includes some great ideas that kids can incorporate in their own communities. This one would be really good as an audiobook as well. Wondering if there will be a Youtube video to show Amina's talents?

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

*I received a copy via the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.*

When Amina returns home from her vacation in Pakistan, she is brimming with pride for her country and wants everyone else to know it. When she’s assigned homework where you have to choose an important figure, she chooses to represent Malala Yousafzai, but everyone can only focus on the horror that occurred. Once again, Amina must speak up to use her voice speak up, and hopefully, no one will drown her out.

I found Amina’s Song really endearing. Hena Khan wonderfully captures the beautiful connection between the home of her parent’s, Pakistan, and the home where she lives, the US. Amina really works hard to send a message to her classmates about unifying different parts of ourselves. The way its written evokes a lot of heart and emotion that will make this book a perfect series to buy for middle-grade readers.

Amina is a wonderful character, with so much compassion and love for the people around her, in both her communities and the story’s main conflict is her wanting to share her Pakistani side with her American side, but it doesn’t go the way she planned. This story is also a wake-up call, not only for Amina but her peers around her as she aims to help them question their understanding of the world beyond their borders. Amina, herself, admits she had second-guessed Pakistan herself before visiting but returns with a new-found appreciation. She’s determined to let her peers see the cultural value of Pakistan that wasn’t sourced from negative media. Amina isn’t Amina without music, so as a side plot, she ends up befriending new boy Nico and they come together to work on music production. Everyone around her immediately assumes it’s a romance and she’s clearly frustrated because all she wants is a friend.

In this follow-up to Amina’s Voice, Amina yearns to showcase her love for Pakistan with her American community. Using her passion for music, she makes it her mission to change everyone’s tune. A delightful companion novel that I would highly recommend to younger readers!

It is the sequel to Amina's Song. I haven't read the first book but I didn't feel left out while reading the sequel. There were mild references but it totally alright to read it as a stand-alone.

Amina is visiting Pakistan in her summer vacations for the first time, she was scared to come after watching all the horrible news on the media But she has fallen in love with everything, places, family and food. She feels connected to everything yet impersonator as she can't speak proper Urdu. Her Taya Jaan, the uncle, asked her to show people, back at home, the beauty of Pakistan and Amina really wants to but looks like no one is much interested.

I love the story and the way Amina's character went through a few things. The story was totally relatable, how people get stuck between two identities and the way media make a certain image about something. It was a perfect Pakistani rep. Hena khan covered everything food, shopping, crazy traffic, family bonding and culture. The way she portrays the successful women of Pakistan along with Malala was such a smart move.

I totally love the book and if you want to read life in Pakistan, it is a perfect choice.

The book two of Amina's Voice. Aku suka buku keduanya ini, yang diawali dengan petualangan nya Amina dan keluarga nya di Pakistan. Dan bagaimana Amina at first felt like imposter in her family born country but yet a long with time she felt belonging there like she in America. Aku juga suka tema diangkat disini lebih dari buku satunya. Lebih menekankan di negara manapun kamu tinggal setiap negara selalu punya kekurangan masing2 yang membuat setiap tempat nya feel like home. Dan karakter aminah nya makin kesini juga makin dewasa dan saling bertumbuh dengan 2 sahabatnya.Reading it is really giving me warm feeling in raining season. 💙💙

' Every culture has shameful parts of its history and groups of people who do things that are wrong.'

✨ Amina's Song by Hena Khan ✨
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Narrated by Soneela Nankani

Amina's Song is such a beautiful book. I read Amina's Voice sometime ago and I was so glad to find out that there was a sequel.

I love that this book reads well as a standalone, so people who haven't read Amina's Voice won't have a hard time getting into it.

The book covers themes and topics relating to race, religion, tradition, friendships, family, and a sense of belonging.

This book kicks off with Amina's last days of vacation to Pakistan and how it's been an eye opening journey for her. The news about Pakistan in the USA had made her scared to visit, but she ends up having a good time.

Most of the book is Amina trying to balance her missing Pakistan with being American, especially with a school project that centers around Pakistani heroes.

This was very emotional and educative and I love how creative and awesome Amina is as a character. Her singing is also a plot point here and her friends from book one are a major part of this book.

I love how the author deals with heavy and hard topics using a middle grade voice and does it in a way that the target audience will resonate with.

✨ ✨

Books to read if you enjoyed this one

1- Amal Unbound - Aisha Saeed - If you're in the mood for more:
Middle grade with Arab rep

2- A Thousand Questions - Saadia Faruqi - If you're in the mood for more:
Middle grader visiting Pakistan

3- Other Words for Home - Jasmine Warga - If you're in the mood for more:
Muslim middle grade partly set in a school

4- Amina's Voice - Hena Khan - If you're in the mood for more:
Amina and her friends and family

✨ ✨

This story is one that I think many young people and even adults will be able to relate to a lot. A story about belonging and being the child of parents who immigrated to a different country for various reasons and now you’re in between two worlds. A story about how even though there can be many differences in being from different cultures there are also many things that can bring us together.

Reading this book reminded me of how I felt when as a young teen I went to Pakistan for a holiday and while I loved it, I couldn’t shake that feeling of not quite fitting in and yet being born and raised in the UK, sometimes I still feel like I don’t quite fit in. That sense of not quite belonging in either place because you are a combination of both cultures and also how you may even reject one culture to be able to belong in the other. Amina doesn’t want to wear salwar kameez or take Pakistani food to school for lunch because it would make her stand out and yet her white friend can bring kebabs without feeling like that. There were so many scenes like this in the book that really hit home for me and how I had felt growing up.

How when the only thing you see about countries you’re family is from is how “backwards” and “violent” they are it can make you want to distance yourself from it yet that isn’t the truth of things and people being violent is a universal thing no matter where you are from. As Amina learns about Malala and tries to show the beauty of Pakistan through her she is faced with people only seeing how a group of people hurt a young girl when all she wanted was to get an education. How people pity girls from there but don’t see how the same thing is happening in their own countries albeit in different ways. That there are incredible people all over the world. I just truly loved how Hena wove all this into the story and showed how beautiful countries like Pakistan can be.

I really liked how Amina has an internal conflict but is determined to show how beautiful her heritage and culture is. It felt so real and relatable and also woven into the story of friendship and family and loving each other despite differences.

At the end when Amina shared the stories of some of the many incredible women from Pakistan and their incredible achievements, it was wonderful to see and seeing people’s reactions go from pity to awe. In the west we are rarely told positive stories of people living in places like Pakistan and I love how Hena tackled this problem through Amina’s story.

This book is one I related to deep in soul and I am so happy to see these stories being published where we can celebrate our heritage and culture instead of being ashamed by it. It’s a wholesome story of love between family and friends and how despite being worlds apart you can still be connected to each other.

I really enjoyed this book, first because Amina visits her relatives in Lahore, which I've had a wonderful time doing in the past as well! Actually my cousin from Lahore is named Amna!
Secondly I'm really happy that Amina talks about other female heroines from Pakistan besides Malala during her class presentation. I liked learning about these other cool feminists and I'm sure the middle grade readers will as well.

Thank you to my Twitter connection for the physical ARC! :)

rep - young muslim pakistani-american mc, pakistani muslim sc, korean-american sc

just like the first one, i loved everything about this book.

I LOVED this follow-up book to Amina’s Voice! Amina has developed a true love of Pakistan during her visit overseas and as she returns to the states, her uncle has given her the challenge of letting her American friends know what Pakistan is really about. Yet sadly, her friends don’t seem all that interested in hearing about her trip. Therefore, she struggles to know how, exactly, to fulfill this challenge. In the meantime, she’s assigned the task of sharing the life of someone important — she is delighted to share her Pakistani hero Malala Yousafzai, even if her presentation doesn’t go exactly the way her teacher hoped. Amina faces continual misunderstandings of her family’s culture and is happy to make a new friend named Nico, who is Egyptian, and who has a musical talent that just might help her meet her uncle’s challenge. The family relationships are simply beautiful in this leg of the story. And Amina is, yet again, met by friendship concerns that she will have to work out in her own way. I’m more than happy to recommend this book and I certainly don’t expect it to stay on the shelves! My thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this story.

I recently reread Amina's Voice in preparation for this new book coming out in March 2021, and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed these characters. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do so before you pick up this one.

Amina's Song begins in Pakistan, where Amina and her family are visiting Thaya Jaan and their other relatives after he's returned home from his visit to the United States. Amina feels very connected to Pakistan, and after she returns home she finds it difficult to leave it all behind. It's difficult for her friends to understand the impact of this experience on her, but she wants to find a way to express how much she loves Pakistan with those around her. She chooses Malala Yousafzai as the subject for a presentation, but is dismayed when her classmates only see the negative side of life in Pakistan for some women. Amina starts to explore her feelings in her journal, which also leads to an interest in collaborating with a classmate when she discover he creates his own music. But since the classmate is a boy, the reaction of Amina's friends and family give her even more things to think about.

I really loved seeing Amina's connection to her extended family grow from the first book and through this one. Maintaining those relationships across the distance is very important to her, and when Thaya Jaan's health is in jeopardy, it brings the two families even closer together. There is a strong theme of family that runs through this story, as well as a connection to culture, self-discovery, and self-expression. We see Amina mature as she works to integrate this new knowledge about herself into the person that she is now, and find a way to express what truly matters to her. Perceptions about other countries and the people who live there are is explored, and I appreciated we see it both from multiple perspectives.

This is an excellent addition to a middle school collection, particularly for readers who like to read about self-expression and connecting to family who live far away.

After reading Amina's Voice, I was quite ready to read book #2, Amina's Song and I was not disappointed. I knew I would like it as well and I liked it even more. I gave it 4 stars but I think that based on the audience the author wrote for that it is a 5 star book. I love that Amina is such a young person and yet she cares so much about her family, culture, her roots and sharing what she's learned herself about Pakistan once she gets back from her first visit to her country of ethnicity. Because Amina cares about her culture and religion, the reader learns a lot about both as well but neither is bogged down with detail, which is especially good for young readers. One experience that most young people can surely commiserate with is when Amina decides to do a school project on Malala Yousafszai, a Pakistani female activist for education, which other students do not find very much interest in nor do they find her stories about Pakistan and her culture that engaging; however, this little girl is incredibly gifted at being a people-person and one can learn a lot from how she handles friendships even in such situations.

This was so cute! And also thought-provoking.

This is actually a 3.5 star read, but bc of its themes, I'm rounding up.

We first met Amina Khokar, a middle grader living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Amina's Voice. She's a Pakistani American and even though she has perfect pitch and a beautiful singing voice, she also had crippling stage fright. With the support of family, especially her uncle Thaya Jaan visiting from Pakistan, and friends, Amina was able to ultimately perform in public.

Now, Amina and her family are spending their summer vacation visiting family in Lahore, Pakistan. Amina has fallen in love with the country and has become very close to her cousin Zohra, Thaya Jaan's daughter. Just before they leave Pakistan to return home, Thaya Jaan challenges her to "show people in America the beauty of Pakistan. They don't know this place like you do now." How, Amina wonders, is she supposed to the that?

Back home, Amina and her friends are starting 7th grade, but to her disappointment, no one seems interested in hearing about her trip to Pakistan. However, when her history teacher gives the class an interactive learning assignment on the first day of class, Amina may have just found the outlet she needs for carrying out Thaya Jaan's challenge. Students must pick a person from history who has made a positive contribution and thoroughly research them, to the point of becoming the person they pick by the end of the term.

Amina is excited to pick Malala Yousafzai, but when she presents her initial report to the class, it isn't her accomplishments that the class focuses on, but rather the oppressive conditions by the Taliban in Pakistan with regard to women and girls. Again, Amina is disappointed and frustrated. What can she do to help people know the Pakistan she loves so much?

Meanwhile, Amina meets Nico, a new kids in school who is also very much interested in music and has a real talent for mixing to create different sounds. Encouraged by her music teacher, Ms. Holly, Amina has been playing around with composing songs to express herself. She's been keep a diary of her thoughts and feelings for a while, recognizing that her experiences have changed her, but unable to express them quite the way she wants. Could a song be the answer with Nico's help?

On top of that, Amina learns that her uncle Thaya Jaan has become ill again and will require delicate heart surgery. Seventh grade is proving to be a year of changes, challenges, identity questions and more for 12-year-old Amina Khokar, all of which makes for a very satisfying sequel.

In Amina's Voice, most of the conflicts in Amina's life were external, but in Amina's Song, they are more internal, having to do with who she is and is becoming. Though Amina is changing and growing up, she narrates her life with the same open honesty as in Amina's Voice, even when things aren't going as well as they could. And she is still somewhat flawed, which makes her a very interesting character. I felt she is a more confident girl and I liked especially liked seeing the changes she goes through, even challenging some of her mother's control. I have to admit, the way she handled the history project and her uncle's challenge surprised me and at first seemed so out character, but then I also cheered her on for it, even if her teacher was not receptive.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Amina's Song and wondered if there might be a third novel in the making, since this one left a few loose ends that could be tied up nicely. Meanwhile, I highly recommend this to fans of Amina's and to those who haven't met her, though I might consider reading book one first. There are references to it in Amina's Song, but they are made clear in Amina's Voice.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley

I loved the sense of family in all of Hena Khan's books. They sound like my family and her books are always cozy and warm!

I also related with Amina wanting to be in two places at once and that jarring feeling when you leave Pakistan and are back in the US and how you crave back-home even though you're in a new home.

I loved seeing the same old characters back and the addition of newer ones too. Grown Mustafa and the sibling relationship was nice to see blossoming and I loved the cousins!

I also adored how Amina found the courage to share that Pakistan is a peace loving country and to share her thoughts proudly. And yay for characters like Thaya-Jan!

I read Amina's Voice last year, and really enjoyed it. Amina's Song take everything to another level and I loved it even more.

Once again, we follow Amina, this time starting out when she's in Pakistan visiting her family, and then coming back to the States and starting a new school year.

The writing was good. Good pacing, great descriptions. Just good writing in general.

The plot is usually not a huge part of these books. They're more secondary. And a lot of it is what I mentioned above.

The setting was great. I particularly loved seeing the scenes in Pakistan in the book. Those were some of the best parts. But the other portions were nice too.

Finally, the characters. As usual, I loved Amina a lot. I really liked seeing how she grew as a character from the first book. And I loved the dynamic with her family members. Emily and Soojin are both delights. And I adored the new characters we were introduced to - Zohra and Nico.

The themes that were explored were excellently woven into the story, and I loved getting to see it done and handled this way. I really related to a lot of things in this book. It was just absolutely incredible.

Definitely one I'm going to reread in the future.

TW/CW: racism, medical content, mentioned gun violence, mentioned school shootings, discussion of refugees.

Amina's Song is a contemporary story that beautifully combines family, culture, and elements of middle school life. I absolutely loved the first book in this duology, Amina's Voice, and enjoyed this follow up just as much. In this book Amina is returning home after a long summer trip visiting family in Pakistan. She is excited to share about her trip when she starts school, but her friends do not seem as interested as she had hoped. She gets the chance to tell her classmates more about Pakistan through a history project where each student is supposed to pick a person who has affected the world in some positive way. Amina chooses Malala Yousafszai for her project since she is from Pakistan. But things don't go as planned when students start to focus only on the negative parts of Malala's story.

I really enjoy Amina as a protagonist because she has so much love for her family, religion, and culture. She also is passionate about music, and I always like to read about a main character who has a hobby that they love. This book is packed full of so many elements of being a kid from creating new friendships, staying on top of school projects, to deciding what extracurriculars to participate in. I also appreciate that this book contains so much detail about her family's culture and religion without over explaining. Meaning that there are times when Urdu words are thrown into conversations without translation or names for Pakistani clothes or foods are used. I like having those elements prevalent in the story and gives me (or middle schoolers) the chance to learn more about the culture through further research outside of the book.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I was very excited to see this book as a follow up to Amina's Voice!

This story was lovely. I really enjoyed learning more about Amina and seeing her pursue her passion for singing, and facing her stage fright in many ways throughout the book.

I also loved how the beginning of the book took place in Pakistan and how Amina learned more about powerful Pakistani women throughout the story. I find Malala to be so inspirational and I love teaching my 5th grade students about her, but I thought it was so important that Hena Khan highlighted a variety of wonderful Pakistani women in this book.

I look forward to adding this book to my classroom library once it is released in print!

Amina's Song is the perfect follow up to Amina's Voice. Amina is finishing up a visit with her family in Pakistan, which she enjoyed a great deal more than she thought she would. I loved how Hena Khan deftly shows the turmoil Amina feels as she feels torn between two worlds, as well as becoming older. Amina is figuring out who she really wants to be, and embraces all aspects of her family and cultures as well as her talent. I can't wait to read more from Hena Khan!

I received an advance reader copy of this title from the publisher.

We meet Amina again, and we see her enjoying her family trip in Pakistan visiting relatives and seeing the sights. When she returns back to her second year in middle school, she is assigned to do a presentation on a historical figure and their culture but worries that no one will be interested and it puts her in another situation about her background. Lighter but just as heartfelt as her first story, Amina once again manages to find her way through her problem and find her own song. A (100%/Outstanding)

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc of this book. This is the year for sequels that stand up to, and even surpass, the first book. Hena Khan has done it again with Amina’s Song. I loved having a chance to see Pakistan through Amina’s eyes, and the way she helped educate her classmates was perfectly depicted. The friendship with Nico was a welcome addition, and I appreciated how Khan navigated the line between friendship and romance...where others assumed romance, Amina wanted a friend. I honestly loved everything about this book and will miss the characters now that I’m done.

My heart feels full after reading this. I need a day or two to organize my thoughts into a proper review but this was beautiful.

I just feel so at home in Hena Khan’s writing.

CW: Islamophobia; racism; references to refugees; references to gun violence

I received this from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for a review. This does not affect my review which is unbiased and honest.

You can check out my review for Amina’s Voice HERE. This book brought up some really great discussions about ignorance in schools and communities especially when teaching about presumed third world countries. I loved seeing Amina stand up for Pakistan and try her best to educate the ignorant students and teachers about education in Pakistan and women’s rights. She’s braver than I ever was at that age!

I also just related so hard to Amina feeling like she was suspended between two different identities. Not knowing enough urdu but also not being allowed to practice it was something I struggled with a lot as a kid! Amina also deal with homesickness for her family in Pakistan that she visits over the summer and having to come home and wonder how to explain all her feelings to her friends who think she’s just having an identity crisis.

I also just LOVE that there were platonic friendships without romance being some big issue. Gotta admit I was scared for a minute but Hena Khan never lets me down.

It was so refreshing to step back into Amina’s little world and see her world grow bigger and her slowly grow. She’s like a little fictional sister to me haha. This is so wholesome and educational and I just want to shove it in everyone’s face and tell them LOOK! We need more little girls like Amina!

What I really loved about this book is just how willing to work Amina is. She really goes above and beyond to show her culture and is okay with wearing shalwar khameez at school dances. I wish I had had this as a kid because I wouldn’t have been so reluctant wearing traditional clothes in predominantly white spaces! Her old and new friendships were so wholesome and her love of music and communication was so pure! Getting to see a new friendship especially with a boy that had no romantic pretense was honestly so refreshing! I truly love all of Hena Khan’s writing and look forward to what she does next!

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a quick wholesome book to read featuring a Pakistani Muslim! If you like fierce and hard working girls that want to learn and educate ignorant people, this is definitely something you would enjoy! This has wonderful friendships and family relationships and a great discussion about amazing female icons from Pakistan!

LOVED:
- Amina's love for her family and her heritage
- Learning about influential women from Pakistan other than Malala Yousefa

MEH:
- The pacing felt off and I felt like there was no central plot/theme, more like smaller plot lines

Amina’s Song is an enjoyable, insightful, and heartwarming middle grade book about family, culture, and music. Set both in Pakistan and the US, this book provides an immersive experience and joins the league of stories highlighting the folly of the single story (especially about third-world countries). Throw in warm family dynamics and sweet friendships, it’s not hard to see why this sequel is a hit.

Read my full review on the blog.

Many thanks to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley.

I loved Amina's Voice, but I think this book takes her story to a whole new level. There's a line where she's talking about leaving her family after a visit in Pakistan, where she's sad because she's missing all the memories they won't make together in the future, being far away from each other -- her experience really resonates with me. Hena Khan really captured that bittersweet and beautiful connection to faraway family. This is a book full of good moments -- funny, sweet, confused, growing-up moments. I love the different ways Amina finds to talk with her American friends about Pakistan, and that she finds a way to change the conversation and celebrate her heritage. I also loved the emphasis on kids helping others in the community. Empowering, and really stellar.

Advanced Reader's Copy Provided by Edelweiss.

Well, Hena Khan has me in tears again 😭❤️

What a beautiful book filled with all the complexities of love and home and the messiness of loving an imperfect place.

I adore the way Malala’s story was incorporated into the book.

And the idea of a heart needing to ache to grow bigger hit me deeply.

CW: Islamophobia, racism, references to: refugees, religious extremism, hate crime, school shootings

i liked this one more than the first which was surprising but not in a bad way! i loved the friendship between amina and nico. however i did think there was perhaps too much going on because a lot of the plot threads got relegated to the background and the only way we knew how they were progressing was when someone would mention that x or y had already happened off-page.

Hello, Hi, How are you?

I am so excited to finally be talking about Amina’s Song. I first book up this book several months ago, as the book, I would read it in between classes. I would pick it up for five minutes here and there and recently the school year ended for me but I still had about twenty pages left of this book! I really wanted to finish it because I was enjoying the story so, I decided to try and finish it one Saturday on the couch before diving back into my current read (which I believe at the time was Hand on the Wall). I was able to finish off the last twenty pages as I drank my morning tea and I have to say I really enjoyed this book (also I had no idea that there was another book in this universe, like a sequel)!

SPOILERS AHEAD

Amina and her family (her mom, dad, and brother) spent the summer visiting family in Pakistan. Amina, her brother, and her mom return to America just a few days before school starts while her dad returned earlier due to work. This is Amina’s first time in Pakistan but she is loving every minute of it! She is learning so many things, seeing new things, and getting to spend a lot of time with her cousins and aunts and uncles. However, once Amina is home things are changing and changing fast. Her friends are not really interested in learning about Pakistan and she is starting a new grade with lots of new club and activity options. On her first day back to school, she learns, that she has to do a history project, where she can pick any person in history and she has to learn all about this person and represent them in front of everyone later in the school year. Amina is not sure who she is going to pick but she is excited about the project!

I really enjoyed Amina’s story and I definitely think I will pick up the other book! Everyone from Amina, to her family (even her extended family in Pakistan) and her friends were characters that I loved and I really enjoyed getting to spend time within this story. Throughout the story Amina and her family, often volunteer in various ways in the community and help to set up apartments for new families, this was such an amazing aspect, and I loved seeing Amina’s perspective on it! Additionally, Amina’s passion for her family and Pakistan really shone through in this story and was something I absolutely enjoyed reading! I can not wait to see where Amina’s story might go next (especially for her and Nico)!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

This sequel to Amina's Voice begins in Pakistan, where Amina's family is visiting with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Amina is soaking up every experience, trying to make the most of her limited time, but when she goes home, her friends don't understand how important this trip was to her. She deals with hurt because of this, and tries to navigate a more complex sense of her identity, now that she has been to her ancestral country.

This book is just as well-written and engaging as the previous novel, has great continuity, and expands on Amina's character as she enters seventh grade and deals with deeper questions about her identity. She ultimately finds a way to share her culture with her classmates, and figures out how to help people see Pakistan in its fullness and beauty, instead of limiting it to negative, scary headlines. This book engages with the misconceptions that different cultures have about each other, and the importance of having supportive family and friends.

Readers who enjoyed Amina's Voice will appreciate this book as well. It is perfect for middle grade readers who are interested in complex, sophisticated themes, but don't feel ready for YA books that have heavier content. I would have loved this when I was the target age, and enjoyed it as an adult. I would highly recommend both of these books, and hope that there will be more in the future.