I really enjoyed this book. Rotating narrators have been becoming more popular but can be unnecessary at times. That’s not the case here. This book uses the rotating narration perfectly and shows clearly different narrator voices and perspectives in its execution of that format. The characters were complex and most were given both strengths and flaws. Most were also dynamic and showed growth in a happy thought not fully tidy and perfect ending. I learned some new vocabulary while reading the book. The author was clearly familiar with Karachi and brought it to life.

A Thousand Questions focuses on two girls who come from different cultures and make many assumptions about each other, but as they spend time together and ask each other questions, they learn who the other really is and consider their own values and desires as well.

Mimi's mom is Pakistani, but she grew up in the U.S.; when she goes to Pakistan to visit the grandparents she hardly knows, it seems like a very different place from home. Sakina, the daughter of Mimi's grandparents' cook who is a servant in their house as well, assumes Mimi will be spoiled and as mean as her grandmother. But Mimi is determined to be friends with Sakina - the only other girl her age around - and Sakina realizes that Mimi can help improve her English, so she can pass the English exam to get into school - even though she knows her family needs her income, so school feels like a pointless dream. Both girls narrate the book in alternating chapters.

This book tells a beautiful story, but it also invites young readers to consider their own assumptions and many different questions. Which is more important, family or money? Who are the important people in our lives? Why are some people treated differently than others? How far should we go to follow our dreams, even when they seem impossible? The alternating viewpoints allow the readers to consider these questions from the viewpoints of two children who come very different backgrounds and yet have so much more in common than they realize.

I received an electronic ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books through NetGalley.
Mimi and her mom arrive in Pakistan to spend time with her mom's parents. As they live in Houston, Mimi experiences culture shock when they arrive. She finds a friend in one of the servants who is her age. Mimi and Sakina overcome first impressions and learn about each other. Mimi sees the severe poverty that Sakina's family lives in. They forge a bond and support each other through the family issues (Sakina's dad's illness, Mimi's mom's tenuous relationship with her family and former husband).
Faruqi captures the culture and spirit in a loving manner. She does not whitewash the issues in Pakistan but also shows the joys and pride of heritage. Middle grade readers will appreciate the challenges these girls face and cheer on their bravery to conquer their fears and solve problems.

Almost as soon as we meet Miryam "Mimi" Scotts, we hear her mom ask for a break from her thousand questions, but Mimi can hardly be blamed. She has just landed in Pakistan, and it is different from her hometown of Houston, Texas, in just about every way. Once she gets to the surprisingly lavish home of her grandparents, whom she has only met through Skype, the questions multiply. Why is there an icy barrier between her mom and grandmother? If her mom's family is wealthy, why are she and her mom barely scraping by in a tiny apartment back in Houston? And the most persistent question of all--does her journalist dad know where she is, and does he care?
Mimi's first person narration, which includes letters to her dad written in her travel journal and never meant to be shared, alternates with the viewpoint of the other 11-year-old girl in the household. Sakina is the daughter of the cook, and is used to being treated as a servant--either invisible or scolded. Everything about Mimi, from her wide smile and T-shirts with enigmatic slogans to her interactions with those around her, bewilders Sakina, who is struggling with much more concrete questions, such as whether she can ever go school when her diabetic father needs her assistance and whether her English will be good enough for her to pass the scholarship entrance exam.
Through the eyes of these two girls--the native and the visitor--readers learn multitudes about the city of Karachi, both its legendary tourist sites and the harsh realities of politics and economic inequality. At the same time, we see a beautiful friendship bloom, with a few bumps along the way.
The book is deftly paced, with the girls taking turns to move the story along but rarely retelling the same event. This book was hard to put down, with almost every character facing trials and then growing and expanding the way they looked at and related to others. Even the author's note at the end, which gives further history of the city, was inspiring. A beautiful Saadia Faruqi has penned a gorgeous and heartwarming summer adventure that leaves the reader sure that these girls will stay in touch and thrive through their middle school years and beyond.

So many things to love about this book! First of all, I love that it takes place in Karachi, Pakistan. I also love the dual narrators as characters, of course, but also as a literary tool. Dual narrators are wonderful for classroom read alouds and allow for great character analysis and perspective lessons. We could talk about how the characters change, how their perceptions of each other change, how their perceptions of the same situation are vastly different, and so much more. I also want to note the representation of a single mom/estranged dad, mom estranged from her own family, interracial immigrant family, and talk of money and socioeconomic status and relative wealth in the developing world versus the United States. All so important. As someone who doesn't fit into the dominant stereotype of a South Asian immigrant family, it was validating to read a story challenging that stereotype. The author also does a great job balancing describing poverty and avoiding the pitfalls of objectifying or infantilizing people experiencing poverty, while simultaneously not having a simple happy ending that sends the message "lucky/hardworking/fill in the blank with a deserving adjective poor people can escape poverty and everything is okay" or the far too common "people are poor but they are happy because their lives are full of simple joys." It's a perfect balance for a middle grade novel, and my students will really enjoy this book and learn so much from reading it. Can't wait to recommend it!

As a member of the Notable Books for a Global Society Selection Committee, I am not able to give a review on this book, as it could be under consideration for this distinction.

This is a brilliant solo MG novel by author Saadia Faruqi. Rich in details, A THOUSAND QUESTIONS is set against the backdrop of Karachi, Pakistan. Eleven year old American born Mimi finds her life turned upside down when her mother announces they are spending the summer in Pakistan with her grandparents.

In Karachi, Mimi befriends Sakina, a local girl who works in her grandparent's house. Told through alternating points of view, readers experience first hand the challenges Mimi and Sakina face.

I highly recommend this book for middle grade classrooms and libraries. It is the perfect accompaniment to The Grand Plan To Fix Everything, Orange For The Sunsets, and The Living of Things. Faruqi's book will inspire conversations and critical thinking about race, economic status, and familiar connections.

Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for providing an e-ARC for review.

Saadia Faruqi does it again! I don't think she could write a book that I wouldn't love.

Rather than spending her summer at home in Houston, Mimi has been dragged half way around the world to Pakistan, to see grandparents she's never met. While she is there, Mimi records her experiences in the forms of letter to the father that left when she was 5. Her letters include all the questions she would ask him, if only she knew where he was.

Sakina is the daughter of the family's cook, who longs to attend school. All she needs to do is retake the English portion of the admission test and she'll earn a scholarship. But she hasn't told her parents (or her employer) that she wishes to go to school.

Mimi tries to befriend Sakina, but Sakina resists. After all, she is the servant and Mimi is not. But after being told to accompany Mimi on outings as a companion, the two begin to form a bond. Each learns a little more about the other and their cultures. Saadia Faruqi does an amazing job writing about self discovery and questioning the world you see. Mimi learns about the unfair divisions of the classes in Pakistan. Why should her grandparents have so much, when Sakina's family is barely scraping by? Sakina learns that Mimi may appear wealthy in Pakistan, but in America she is not, and the Mimi longs for a father as present and loving as Sakina's.

All in all another fabulous read!

What a wonderful book that highlights the differences in life and the commonality of internal struggles of all. the story moves at a pace that will keep students involved while being connected to the everyday life of children in another part of the world. the character development was just right to pull you in and make you feel as if you were right there in the action.

Thank you to #NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of A Thousand Questions by Saddia Faruqi. This contemporary middle grade fiction novel will be released October 6, 2020. All opinions are my own.

It's just been Mimi and her mom since her father left when she was five-years-old. The memories of him are getting fewer and fewer and all she really knows is that he's a journalist who travels the world reporting from far away places. After her mom loses her job, she decides it's time to take Mimi to Karachi, Pakistan to visit her parents (grandparents that Mimi has never actually met and only occasionally says hello to on Skype). Mimi is instantly struck by the differences in Karachi. She sees the poverty and class divides. After arriving, she meets Sakina a servant and daughter of grandmother's cook. Sakina dreams of going to school and being more than a servant. Her family however relies on her to work. They need her wages especially as her father's diabetes worsens and he needs to rest more and work less. Behind her parents' backs, Sakina takes a school entry exam but needs to improve her English skills. Mimi and Sakina eventually become friends and through their friendship the two not only learn about the other's culture, but themselves.

This is an amazing middle grade novel that focuses on two modern perspectives of Karachi, a city many middle grade readers may not know about. I love that the focus of the novel is on the two girls and their respective families. Mimi and Sakina act as foils of each other and allow each other to grow and develop. Through her trip, Mimi develops a better idea of what poverty is and the divides in class. She learns not to take for granted what she has. I also really enjoyed how Faruqi expertly weaves in the history of Karachi and Pakistani culture. I felt like I learned a lot through reading this novel and that I have a new perspective. I hope that this book will inspire conversations between middle grade readers and get them thinking critically and asking big questions. The novel is fun and the characters are easy to relate to. The delightful narrative voice (which alternates between Mimi and Sakina's perspectives) makes this an engaging and quick read.

Mimi is an American girl who grew up in Houston with her mom. She has had limited interaction with her maternal grandparents who live in Pakistan. That all changes when Mimi and her mom spend the summer in Karachi. Mimi befriends the cook's daughter, Sakina, who longs to go to school. As they learn more about each other, their preconceived notions go by the way side and they find ways to help each other. Mimi tutors Sakina and Sakina helps Mimi connect with her estranged journalist father. A good read for middle schools, focusing on other cultures.

The relationship that developed between Sakina and Mimi is well-paced, natural, and realistic. The author does a great job of showing how these two girls from different backgrounds learn about each other's experiences. A must read for fans of Amal Unbound.

3.5 stars

This is a solid middle grade novel centered on the alternating perspectives of Mimi and Sakina. Mimi is visiting Pakistan with her mother, and Sakina works as a servant for Mimi's grandparents. There is - as expected - some focus on class, socioeconomic status, and cultural differences throughout the novel.

Though readers spend time in both girls' minds, I still wanted to feel like I knew them better and to see them develop a bit more. Yes, they learn lessons and expand their frames of reference, but there are some sticking points in the plot that resolve too easily, a marked lack of conflict, and some vague descriptions of ancillary characters (whom I needed to know better to feel more investment).

This is a promising debut, and while I do have some points of contention with the final product, I'm excited to read more from this author.

In A Thousand Questions, Mimi and her mom travel to Karachi, Pakistan to visit Mimi's grandparents for the summer. This is significant since Mimi has never known them in person. She has only seen them on an occasional video call, so she doesn't know much about them. When she arrives, she realizes that they are quite wealthy. They even have servants, and one of them named Sakina is her age. Even though Sakina helps her father, she has dreams about pursuing her education. After failing an exam, she knows that she will need help with her English to be able to achieve her dream.

The book is told in alternating viewpoints between Mimi and Sakina. We learn more about the girls, their families, and the culture from their experiences. There are many issues that are brought up in the book that would lead to rich discussion.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh boy, I’ve found another #mustread for your lists! Friends, this book was endearing in every possible way. Set in a double first person narrative, two girls share their experience of meeting and spending a month together after Mimi and her mom decide to visit family for the first time in many years. Sakina, the servant, is from a completely different world than Mimi, but together they form a beautiful friendship and learn about life, love, and growing up together. It had lots of heart, and was such a great read for students as a window for students to view an entirely different culture and world. I’ve got some fun ideas for pairing this with a few other texts that I’ve recently read and I can’t wait for this one to come out on the shelves so I can recommend it to all of my middle grade readers!!

I was happy to have had the chance to read this amazing middle grade E-ARC thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins.

Mimi and her mother, residents of Houston Texas, take a trip to visit her mother’s family in her homeland of Pakistan. Mimi has been raised in the United States solely by her mother after her father left them. Mimi knows little about her father and has a thousand questions that no one seems to want to answer. She decides to use a journal to write letters to the father she desperately wants to know and have in her life.

While she is in Karachi, her relationship with the grandparents she barely knows begins to grow. Her grandmother is critical and harsh with everyone, while her grandfather is gentle and soft, especially with Mimi and her mother. Mimi is surprised to realize her mother was raised with privileges that Mimi does not have, including servants that take care of their every need. As Mimi’s mother is away during the day, Mimi develops a friendship with a young girl, Sakina, who helps cook meals for Mimi’s family alongside her father, only to return to her home each day in a poor part of the city. Their friendship is a true gift as it becomes an important bridge to Mimi better understanding her culture, it opens her eyes to the inequities of the world, and it helps her find a way to reconnect with her father.

I love this #ownvoice story that features characters and places that my students will connect with and embrace. I am excited to add it to my library collection.

In this East meets West friendship story, A Thousand Questions shows the disparity in life styles between the United States and Pakistan told alternately by the two main characters. Eleven-year-old Mimi Scotts and her mother travel from Houston, Texas, for summer vacation to visit her wealthy grandparent, Begum Sahib and Sahiba Ji, in Karachi for the first time. She is awed by the wealthy and luxury of her grandparents’ home compared with her tiny apartment and stretched budget back in the United States. While Mimi’s mother reconnects with her school chums, Mimi forms a friendship with the servant girl, Sakina Ejaz. Too poor to go to school, Sakina assists her diabetic father cooking in the Ji’s kitchen. The two girls become fast friends. With the backdrop of the campaign season for new elections, Sakina shows Mimi the sites of Karachi and Mimi agrees to tutor to Sakina for her English examination so that she can win a school scholarship. Mimi’s narration includes secret letters she writes to Tom Scotts, the father she has never met.. When Mimi discovers her freelance journalist father is living in Karachi, she is determined to meet him and Sakina is a willing accomplice. Author Saadia captures the richness of the Asian city from the delicious dishes and its atmosphere and the inequity of the caste system as well as the authenticity of the fully-drawn main characters: Sakina, mature beyond her years, cognizant of her integral role in providing for the welfare of her family; Mimi, an ordinary American girl of modest means, getting to know her grandparents and also her own mother in her childhood home and longing to connect with father.

Just okay, in my opinion. The premise is a common one for MG literature, although the location (Pakistan) is perhaps more atypical and should be included in school libraries for that reason. The book also has value as a launching place for discussions about wealth disparities and international differences of poverty measures.

You are going to love Mimi and her questions and Sakina and her serious answers. You are also going to wish you could reach through the pages and taste all of the food! I can’t wait to recommend this one to my students!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this Middle Grade novel.

Mimi is American born and has a Pakistani mother. Her dad left them and she hasn't seen him since, instead keeping a journal of letters to him (and a thousand questions for him too). They go to Pakistan for the first time when Mimi is 11 to visit her grandparents, where she sees corruption and poverty and also meets Sakima, a servant in her grandparents' home.

This offers a great opportunity for middle grade readers to see how other people live, whether it's people living in different socio-economic circumstances, or people who are Muslim, or children of divorce, or immigrant experiences, or if they've never learned anything about Pakistani people.

I enjoyed this sweet story of friendship and family.