This was a difficult book for me to read, for two vastly different reasons.

1. It’s a novel in verse. While I love reading poetry, I find that verse novels don’t really work for me. Poetry is about packing a great deal of meaning into a few carefully chosen words. In narratives, I feel that many times depth of description and emotion can suffer when told in verse.
2. Aarzu is in just such a sad situation. Her parents were killed in an earthquake, and she lives with her mother’s sister and her husband and sons. The uncle is very patriarchal and has strong ideas about the roles of girls and women. The older son is a bit of a bully. And Aarzu’s sister suffers from a debilitating and potentially fatal kidney disease. They live in near poverty; the uncle’s income comes from taking tourists around in his rickshaw, and the aunt sells items she has embroidered.

That said, don’t think I didn’t like this story. Aarzu is resilient, and devoted to her sister. Her indomitable spirit shines out in this story.

Like so many middle-grade novels, there is a subplot of a friendship nearly broken by jealousy, but Aarzu comes to realize her faults and the friendship survives.

The book also features an explanation of how the game of cricket works, a glossary of Arabic/Pakistani terms, and—best of all to my English teacher heart—a list of the various forms of poetry used to tell the story.

Possible objectionable material:
Loss of parents, misogyny, domestic abuse (not shown). Aarzu does some serious sneaking around. Chronic illness.

Who would like this book:
If you like stories of courageous young people who find a way to rise above their difficulties, this would be a good one for you. And if you like or are interested in cricket, give it a shot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

#BookReview #NetGalley #MiddleGrade #NovelInVerse #MarziehAbbas #AarzuAllAround #SimonAndSchuster #biblioquacious

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2025/08/middle-grade-novel-in-verse.html

I absolutely ADORED this big-hearted middle grade debut about a Pakistani cricket loving girl who disguises herself as a boy to help earn money to pay for her younger sister's medical bills. With an unforgettable protagonist, this is a book young girls of color will easily be able to root for and identify with. I can't wait to read. more by this author! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was hesitant starting this 384 page middle grade novel in verse, because the stereotype of having to disguise yourself as a boy to make things happen, seems like a western performative troupe that reinforces stereotypes, and has been done a fair amount in literature.  Pushing down my disdain, I opened the book to numerous pages of cricket terminology and rules, which further served as a barrier.  I do not understand the info dumping, literally, at the start of the book, and to top it all off it is not needed.  The book is blurbed as being a cricket loving, girl dressing as a boy in a patriarchal society, but really those are the most forced aspects of the all over the place narrative.  Cricket is underdeveloped and her actually playing is very minimal and lacking. Aarzu disguising herself as a boy is a blip that she admits to a few pages after she gets the job, and thus the story that remains is an orphaned girl with a mean uncle trying to find a way to help pay for her younger sister's medical bills. Which isn't a bad story it is all just so very disjointed.  And the verse is not written well, there are no beats or flow, it just seems to be a few decent poems in a sea of jumbled ones.  About 40% when the Islam starts to shine, I felt a brief connection to the book and the characters, but the loose threads and telling over showing, found skimming the pages to find out if the sister survived, if Aarzu got in trouble, and how cricket fit into it all.  The weak climax and sloppy resolution, combined with the premise, marketing, and info dumping, makes me recognize that I am not the target audience as a cynical Pakistani American reader, but truly makes me wonder who is.  I don't know that the words on the page or the story at hand are going to resonate with middle graders.  I appreciate that Islam and culture are separated, that the mean uncle is confined to him and him alone, not a label on Pakistani men, but it feels like the editor took a day off or didn't want to help the author make the story cohesive, which is unfortunate.

SYNOPSIS:

Aarzu and her younger sister have come to live with her poor maternal aunt's family in Karachi after her parents are killed in an earthquake.  She is treated like a servant by the family, not allowed to watch cricket let alone play, and her government public school is hardly a challenge.  When Sukoon's kidney failure worsens and dialysis is needed, as they wait for a kidney transplant match, Aarzu decides to find a way to make money.  She starts frying onions and selling them at the local market, the labor intensive and odorous job helps, but not enough.  When a nearby bungalow preparing for a wedding, needs laborers, her friend Nazia encourages her to cut her hair to look like a boy and apply.  Lying to her aunt about where she is, she spends her time after school getting to know the kids that live at the bungalow, confessing that she is a girl, and playing cricket.  The money helps her sister and things are starting to look up, until the truth comes out, Sakoons health worsens, finances at home hit rock bottom, and friendships frazzle.  Luckily though SPOILER the wealthy family likes her and solves all her problems and bribes the right people for her to make the cricket team.

WHY I LIKED IT:

Some parts, mostly the Islam, really spoke to me. I love that distinctions were made between religion and culture, that she taught the wealthy girl how to pray, that Aarzu is Muslim and loves her faith and relies on her relationship to Allah swt in handling every aspect of her life. The rep feels real and sincere and while it made me force a friend to read the book, it also highlighted how weak the other aspects were.  We, the reader, see so little of what Aarzu's world is, we are just told. There are no flashbacks to her life with her parents juxtaposing her current situation that would have connected us to her.  The poverty, the mean uncle, the cricket, the sick sibling, they all just seem like plot points, not pieces to this girl. She compartmentalizes them in a way that make it hard for the reader to see the overlap, or that she is keeping all of these parts close to her heart at all times.

The resolution was disappointing, it felt half hearted. Why have wealthy saviorism? Dreams coming true from bribery? It took the grit out, and made the messaging fall less on hard work and perseverance, and more on, don't be poor.

I did appreciate the kidney disease representation, having seen a loved one endure failure and daily dialysis, I appreciated the mention of dietary changes, and swelling, and lethargy, it was well done.  I wish the emotional impact, though not just the sibling love, but the fear of demise, could have come through stronger.

FLAGS:
Lying, physical abuse, theft, fear, illness

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I don't know of a kid I would recommend the book to, but I would shelve it, let nine and up read it, and happily discuss with whoever wants to chat about it.

I normally enjoy middle grade novels in verse, but this one just didn't click for me. There's a lot going on in the story and since I don't know anything about cricket, I had a hard time keeping up. I also realized at some point that while I felt bad for Aarzu, I couldn't connect with her.

Tropes: feminism, equality, societal pressure, south-east asia

In Pakistan, the women's cricket team faces a lot of misogynistic bullshit from the public. Go to the Facebook page and read the comments; they will make you sick. These girls play their hearts out on the field and perform better than the men's teams most times and this is what they get back. I was super interested to read this book for that reason ( and also am very familiar with how cricket is played).

Can girls play cricket? Is it suitable? Is it societally acceptable? This book is written in prose and is a good starting point of discussion with your kids on gender roles and what the expectations of society are from boys vs girls. The subject matter is needed, and I would say that families of SE Asian background, who know what cricket is and how it's played, will really enjoy it.

However, the book is more for older kids, I would say age 10 or above, because the density of the words is better suited to that age group. With younger kids, you'll have to read to them. I also feel like the text could have been simplified for better understanding and written to be more engaging.

An interesting and affirming story set in Pakistan by an author of that nation. Written in English and in verse, Aarzu All Around focuses on topics as wide ranging as feminism, organ failure, gendered violence, classism, and the loss of parents. It's ultimately hopeful, but does not flinch away from depicting the many barriers that Aarzu and indeed all young girls in Pakistan face, particularly if they are not wealthy, from a society that can be patriarchal and weaponize religion to defend the status quo.