Book Review | Sadia by Colleen Nelson

Author: Colleen Nelson
Publication Date: February 3rd, 2018
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Is it a series?: No, standalone
Genre: Young Adult
Source: I received an eARC copy from Dundurn Press through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review



Rating:

Blurb: Three female Muslim teenagers must decide how far they are willing to go to defend their beliefs when faced with the pressures of life.

Thirteen-year-old Sadia is Muslim and passionate about one thing: basketball. When her teacher announces tryouts for this year’s co-ed team, she jumps at the opportunity. Her talent speaks for itself. 

Her headscarf, on the other hand, is a problem. Surrounded by her classmates and a new friend, Syrian refugee Amira, Sadia learns about standing up for herself and fighting for what is right.

Written from Sadia’s point of view, the book examines how three female Muslim teenagers experience life. Sadia wants to maintain her Muslim identity and refuses to remove her head covering at a basketball tournament; Amira is a Syrian refugee, reeling from the trauma she experienced when she fled her home; and Nazreen is ready to eschew her Muslim heritage to fit in with the popular crowd at school. 

I truly have no words to put here on how much it touches my heart seeing a Syrian refugee have to find another place to build their life and I know it so hard and in deepest of their heart there is nothing can ever rub all those hurtful things they have to experience in their life. 

What is the book about?

• The main protagonist in this book is Sadia. She is a Syrian who is living with her family in Canada. She is not a refugee because she moved to Canada even before the war started while Amira, she is a Syrian refugee who has to flee out of their country to another which is in Canada and she has a hard time to adjust her life in a new place with a new people. Also, Nazreen, she is from Eygpt.
• Sadia and Nazreen, both of them are best friends and have been through a lot together in trying to adapt to living in Canada which has different cultures, beliefs, and religions.  
• Basketball is what Sadia enjoy the most. So, she goes for tryouts and trying her best to be part of the team and of course, she got the place in the team!
• During the basketball team are up for competition, Sadia having a problem to play because of the discriminatory rule been set out for her to remove her hijab and that has torn her heart but do you believe in friends' supports? I think you should.

What I love about this book?

• The main characters are Muslims.
• I love Canada. We were almost moving to Canada back in 2008. Almost. But things happened and that is that.
• There is a part where Sadia try to advise her best friends, Nazreen about wearing hijab.
• Mr. Letner, Sadia's teacher has come out with a project, "If You Give a Kid a Camera", more like they need to come out a photo from their perspective and that photo needs to have a meaningful message from it. I think that project is a brilliant thing for the kids to take parts in.
• The friendship in this story is wonderful. When Sadia and Nazreen friendship are not that good, she tries her best to forgo what she felt about what Nazreen was done or said to her and try to fix back their relationship. Not only that, I love how Sadia help Amira to make her feel comfortable with her new surroundings and try to understand her better of what she felt. To add into that, the basketball teammates are also wonderful friends and the best teammates.

All in all, there are so much in this book for me to say about but I think this is enough because you need to read it first so that, you will know the whole story. So, please get the book when it is out!

p/s: I'm trying my best not to spoil too much!

A lot of people thought that I covered myself to avoid a man's gaze, but it was more than that. It was a way to express my spiritual connection to God, and it was how I had been raised.