Cover Image: The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan

The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan

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Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

There are some books that come to you at the perfect time and surprisingly, this is one for me. Set in 1991, Mona Hasan is 11 (and some) and is keeping a diary. Being as I was the same age as Mona at this time it was like a little trip down memory lane. But also, my daughter is the same age as Mona now and it is incredibly relatable to her life too. This book was so witty and funny and absolutely perfect!

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced copy of this book.

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This coming of age story was funny, thoughtful, and oh so charming! Mona is a fiesty protagonist, just trying to find her way in this world. Through both good and bad adventures, I loved hearing her side of the story through journal entries - one of my favorite mixed medias! Highly recommend for your favorite middle grader!

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We meet Dubai resident and almost twelve-year old Mona Hasan through her diary entries. I love epistolary novels and this one was terrific. pat humour insight pathos and Mona is a fantastic main character

Mona chronicles her daily activities and covers a number of different things from her daily life at school (e.g., her new principal and his ideas about how capable girls are), her parents, her best friend, her first crush, Desert Storm, her annoying younger sister and the people who live around her. Mona is hilarious, hilariously melodramatic, and she's also a burgeoning poet, including several super melodramatic poems in her diary commenting on daily events in her life.

Despite the humourous tone of Mona's observations, there is a darker side to her musings, which she often misinterprets or does not see the gravity of due to her age and limited experiences:
-colourism in the many skin lightening cremes for women,
-the disdain of her mother's parents for Mona's mother because she chose her own husband
-the dislike Mona feels for physical activity (I get the sense girls are discouraged from exercising in her school)
-the pervasive misogyny
-the lower expectations for girls than for boys, as girls in her circle are just expected to marry and produce children
-casual assault by men of women in public

I LOVED how Mona handled one particular incident: the uncomfortable and unwanted attention of an uncle towards her younger sister, and her mother's initially dismissive attitude to Mona's concerns. Mona stands up for her sister, and it's a pivotal moment in her development, as well as the relationship between her and her mother. (It's already a strong relationship, but I think this only strengthened their connection as Mona's mother believed her and acted on Mona's words.)

How many ways can I say I loved this book? Mona might be terribly self-centred initially, but she grows up a little over the course of the book, and her experiences after moving to Canada see her making new friends, and standing up for them when necessary. And beginning to see her parents more clearly as the people they are, a sure sign that she's maturing.

I laughed so much, winced, felt a little sad, got angry, then laughed some more over the course of this terrific book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

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I like books that give me a peek behind the scene. I think that this would be a really good book for middle years students. It gave some insight into a culture different than my own and I enjoyed that.

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What fun! I laughed with and cheered for Mona along her journey of figuring out life. Mona has an awesome wonder and curiosity and observations on things big and small that made me rethink of the hero’s in my life. Great read for all with a youthful mindset! Still laughing when I think of the gas station scene. Hee hee.

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Mona is a unique girl with a interesting life. This diary style book follows this middle school girl in 1991 Dubai in UAE. The Gulf War is going on and her parents decide to immigrate to a different county. There are serious situations but several laughs. This book would be great pared with nonfiction materials in a classroom. I would love to see it used in a culture study looking at various cultures and religions. I definitely enjoyed this book. I will definitely be getting a copy for my middle school library and recommending it.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

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I really don't know how to review this book. Is it funny and engaging, yes at times, but I am a 41 year old, and I can attribute it (hopefully/possibly) to satire, hubris, character voice, and commentary, except it isn't written for me, it is written for 10-14 year olds.   There is no way would I put this in the hands of a fourth grader, let alone a high schooler.  The book starts on New Year's eve with a "Muslim" family drinking alcohol, later the 11 year old drinks to get brave enough to meet up with her boyfriend (he wanted to wait until after Ramadan), after a bad haircut she starts wearing hijab and later takes it off, her period starts and she is baffled at which hole it comes out of, she is no longer allowed to be alone in a room with a boy because that is how babies are made, but it is ok to go to a school dance and kiss them, women are rather useless, old people (31 year olds and up)  should know their place and act their age, dark skin is bad, chests need to be big, slut is both something you are and something you can do,  Aisha (RA)'s age of marriage is criticized as is Khadeeja (RA)'s, no one is as good at her, Ramadan is annoying because she has to hide when she eats in public for a whole month, Friday prayers even though they rush through them limit their fun time, the Tablighi Jamaat have to be lied to and hidden from, her mom is pregnant months after coming out of her bedroom smiling, her father claims he will only ever enter a mosque horizontally, you can see the list goes on and on.  Yet at the same time, there are true moments of strength, such as when she fights back against the creepy sexual assault vibes from "uncle annoying" and then protects her sister when her parents dismiss it, when she sticks up to a bully to protect her gay friend in Canada, the dad getting caught one day praying salat, the love of family felt despite her perceived privilege while visiting Pakistan, her constant reference to Allah swt as she asks Him and tries to understand the world around her, and her terrible, terrible poetry.  The diary style is both brilliant in trying to show the world through Mona's eyes, and irritating as NONE of the aforementioned concerns are given any context, explanation, reflection, anything.  The thoughts pour out of her head, onto the paper, and the reader is left to figure out if this is how things are, is this her naïve view, is she commenting on society, is the author, is this fact, is it satire, is it someone with an axe to grind on culture and religion, is it showing the ridiculousness of so many stereotypes? And to be honest, I have no idea.  Which is why I can't say that the book is good or bad, I think it is well written, my problem with it is, I don't know who it is written for.  I think it would be very damaging to young children, the vulgarity, misogyny, racism, arrogance, will hurt both those that see parts of themselves in Mona and those that read it and assume too much about what Mona represents.  

SYNOPSIS:

Mona is an 11 year old girl, and this is her diary.  She is arrogant and opinionated, but she grows and mellows as her view of the world moves from privilege in Dubai to immigrant in Canada with a bit of an awakening in Pakistan in between.  It is her view of her life, her place in the world, and the greater society around her.  It is an easy read on the surface of her living through the war without getting any days off of school, friends, maturation, first loves, hoping for a bigger chest, pulling a fire alarm to get time with a boyfriend, feminism, and the annoyance of being better than everyone else in everything she does.  There are side characters that flit in and out and family members that shape her, but the point of view is uniquely hers in all matters regarding leaving the Middle East as a Pakistani living there, spending time with her mother and father's families in Pakistan and the rift her parents' love marriage caused on their acceptance of her, their move to Canada to start a more peaceful life that ends up being grueling and difficult and through it all threads of Islam, fitting in, and growing up.  It is a snapshot of so much that the reader is left to connect the pieces, assign them value, and understand the larger message, if one exists.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I still don't know if I like it or dislike it.  I dislike it for kids.  I like it for adults as a light over the top snarky read, but I think my opening paragraph is sufficient and the 296 page book doesn't need my concerns and praises rehashed here.

FLAGS: 

Misogyny, anti Islam, sexism, racism, ageism, lying, vulgarity, cursing, crude talk, lying, disrespect, lack of religious respect, kissing, sexual assault (attempt), deceit, pulling a fire alarm, physical fighting/assault, family trauma, arrogance, pettiness, stereotypes, bullying, sexual innuendos, 

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I have suggested a few ADULT friends read the book so we can chat, but no kiddos, no teens, no early twenties, old ladies (31 plus according to the main character)!

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This was geared for middle school aged children and it shows. All of the embarrassing mistakes and perspectives are refreshing while also showing the perspectives of a child trying to understand the darker parts of their world.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Mona Hasan is my new favorite protagonist.

I'll admit, I'm always a little skeptical of diary formats, especially when the "author" is a child. They're hard to believably pull off, but about 30% into MONA, I realized I just ... could not ... stop ...reading.

Even more shocking? I couldn't stop laughing.

Salma Hussain's debut is an absolute delight. She took all my prejudices against epistolary novels, dosed them in the pure hilarity of Mona's voice, and tossed them back in my face. And reader, I'm *thanking* her for it. MONA covers some extremely heavy topics: immigration, the Gulf War, racism, and misogyny, to name a few. But it also deals with the more ordinary hardships associated with being a preteen, like periods, crushes, annoying siblings, and friend drama. Mona's witty, sassy insights genuinely shook up my perception of the world; because, let's be honest, a twelve-year-old isn't going to have the same opinion on what matters as an adult.

I think that's what I enjoyed about MONA the most. Hussain lets her heroine just ... be. Mona writes terrible poetry, totally misreads serious situations, and is melodramatic AF (as is her right.) She also stumbles upon beautifully poignant insights about what it means to live in a changing world; some of those passages (though they did feel a touch authorial at times) made my breath catch in my throat. Because that's what the best books do, right? They make you feel things.

If this is a debut, I cannot wait to see what Salma Hussain writes next. MONA HASAN is a 90's-nostalgia-infused delight, for readers of all ages.

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So this is a higher elementary education book. I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. The writers style definitely was not my favorite, but that is a personal preference.

Half way through I was contemplating not finishing it, but I pushed through. This is definitely a 2 star book for me.

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This is a Middle Grade Book. This book is told by a young Muslim girl in the Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I wanted to love this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. I give up on this book around 20% into this book. I hated all the complaining because if I wanted to give a head full of complaining I would just sit with my 12 year old daughter for an hour and ask her to tell me everything that is wrong. Why do kids complain so much now. I also had real problems with some of the words used in this book. This book is like being in a 12 year olds mind believe me when I say no one wants to be in a 12 year old's mind. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

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