Sixth grade student Amina is too nervous to share her beautiful singing voice with others. Middle school is awkward enough without drawing extra attention to yourself. When friends start changing and life becomes uncertain, will Amina be able to draw on the strength of her family and her faith to have the courage to let her voice be heard? Find out in this heartwarming tale, which would be an excellent addition to any middle grade or middle school fiction collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Publishing for the review copy of this book in preparation for the book’s sequel to be published in March 2021. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan is a beautifully written story about a Muslim girl in Milwaukee as she navigates the beginning of middle school. When something terrible happens at her religious center, she learns about resilience and friendship. I absolutely recommend this book and look forward to the second book coming soon.

Short, middle school novel set in the Miwaukee,WI area.  As the book opens, Amina is refusing to sign up for a solo in her school's concert  because she is scared to sing in public.  The novel moves quickly from one scene into another, revealing her ethnicity and religious background, and her family and friends.  I liked how the whole family grows throughout the story, even the adults -- in particular, Amina's father and his older brother learn to listen better to each other.  Amina's father has been used to defering to his older brother, and while that worked when they were on separate continents, that did not work very well while his brother was visiting them for several months.

Amina is from Pakistan and her best friend Soojin is from Vietnam. The girls, now living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have been best friends since early elementary school. Now that they are in middle school, things are starting to change. Amina is afraid that she is going to lose her best friend, but after a series of events, she learns about true friendship. 

Overall, I really liked this book. It weaves in a great storyline about what it’s like being Pakistani-American in today’s world, without being too cumbersome. It’s an excellent, diverse middle-grades book that would be a great read for any student in grades 4-7.

A sweet middle grades novel about a young woman struggling with typical middle school issues - friends, family, community, finding her place/goals. She also deals with shyness and finding her voice as she discovers who she is.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!  2 stars - bumped up to 3 stars!  I read this book with my students in a book club.  My middle school girl students really identified with the characters.  However, as an adult reading it - I could not connect at all with the characters.  I love middle grade, it is one of my favorite genres, but this one just wasn't for me.

Amina's Voice is a beautiful book about a girl who learns what it means to be a part of her family's culture while finding a way to be her own person at the same time.

Please note: my request was approved so close to the archive date that I missed my chance to download the book. My review is based on a print copy I borrowed from the library.

This is a fairly quick read, so should be a good choice as a readaloud or for your reluctant readers. It will also appeal to your realistic fiction readers who are looking to expand their horizons. This book will potentially introduce readers to a culture they are not familiar with, and that is always a good thing. There is a lot of explanation in this book, as Amina introduces different foods, prayers, and practices and then (briefly) explains what they are. But, at its core it is about a middle schooler trying to adjust to changes in friendships, family drama, and finding her own place in the world. There is a smidge of language ("hell") and a scary situation, but it should be fine for fourth and fifth grade. I agree with at least one review I read, that everything gets resolved awfully quickly, but the upside is that it keeps the book at a manageable size for less confident readers.

I put off reading this one for a little while, not sure why. But I loved it. I thought it was an excellent view of how friendship changes when middle school hits, and how we can mature over time.

TW: HATE CRIME

"Embarrassing? I don't understand this embarrassing. Why do you care what people think?"
 - pg. 27 Baba 

--Cute, sweet contemporary novel w/ supportive family & friend drama. 
--Singing! I'm such a sucker for the arts in literature. 
--Anxiety is well handled
--Amina & Soojin are adorable friends that we need more of
--Tackles heavy, relevant topics 
--Happy ending leaves you feeling good

I deeply apologize, but I didn't read the pdf on Adobe Reader before it expired, therefore I didn't get a chance to review it. I was really excited to read this one, yet it's very difficult for me to keep track of the expiration dates in which I never check them. Thank you for this amazing chance for this arc though!

This book was okay. I kind of wanted it to be longer because I thought there would be more about Amina singing in the spotlight. I needed a more satisfying ending.

Amina is having a difficult time adjusting to life in middle school. Friendships are changing and her much stricter Uncle is visiting from Pakistan. Amina has to balance her love of music with her fear of the spotlight, and her love of her culture against the expectations of her Uncle while figuring out who she is and what she wants. This lovely and vibrant novel brings Amina's inner - turmoil to life against the backdrop of typical middle school drama as she and her family deal with issues from navigating middle school friendships and her brother's desire to join the basketball team to an attack on the community's Islamic Centre.

Amina's Voice is a delightful middle grade that focuses on the universal story of self-acceptance and the acceptance of others. Amina Khokar is a Pakistani-American tween who is navigating the troubled waters of junior high. Amina is musically gifted, a talent that only her family and close friends know. She bonds with her best friend, Soojin, with having weird names that no one can pronounce and similar family traditions. Amina is now worried that her friendship with Soojin might be on the rocks. Now that Soojin is about to be granted citizenship, she is thinking about leaving her Korean name and adopting a much easier to pronounce American name, which Amina has mixed feelings about. Amina is also unsure of Soojin being close to Emily, whom Amina distrusts and feels unworthy as friend given how she ill treated her and Soojin at the beginning of the school year. 
  In addition to the worries of school, Amina is also dealing with family issues. Amina's family is hosting her strict, conservative Muslim uncle, who is visiting Wisconsin from Pakistan and who will surely comment on her family's lifestyle in the United States and point out all of their flaws like not speaking Urdu at home or playing music at home. In addition to these mounting problems, Amina's parents sign her and her brother up in a competition to recite the Quran at their local mosque. Stage-fright-prone Amina prepares for the competition. The vandalism of the local Islamic Center and mosque further heightens the turmoil in this timely coming-of-age story. 
  What makes Amina's Voice work is the balance between ordinary problems like those of school and friendship and of religion and culture. Amina's responses to both problems are emotional and honest. We watch her grow, learn from her mistakes, and become a better person as realizes that she misjudged Emily. Confronting her preconceived notions is again reinforced on a larger scale as her community comes together in response to Islamophobic vandalism. The author also gracefully addresses the difficulty of reconciling individual beliefs with those of others, especially those you love, as well as the complications that accompany the merging of cultures.

Amina's Voice takes on some pretty big topics in a fairly short novel. That's admirable but it tends to feel oversimplified. Nothing is explored in any real depth. Changing friendships, stage fright, increasing responsibility, culture clash, and hate crimes all just get a surface exploration. All of these topics are deftly handled with realistic, likeable characters. There was simply a lot of missed opportunity to dig deeper, to explore motivations and repercussions. A decent read to introduce topics.

Summary: Now that Amina is in middle school, it feels like everything around her is changing. Her best friend Soojin has started hanging out with another girl and is considering changing her name to something more “American”, her dad’s brother is visiting them from Pakistan for the first time so she needs to be on her best behavior 24/7, she’s forced to participate in a Quran recitation competition at her local community center, and she desperately wants to participate in the Winter Choral Concert but is too shy to sign up for it. Meanwhile, tragedy strikes as their mosque is vandalized, leaving Amina and her community utterly devastated. 

I haven’t read a lot of middle-grade fiction since well before middle grade ( I was the annoying kid that thought it was only cool to read ‘above’ her reading level and no adult told me otherwise), and it’s such a delight to pick them up and read them as an adult. Hena Khan has woven such a vibrant story with these babies at the heart of it, filled with warmth and leaving you with hope.

The first thing that struck me while reading this was how early in their lives non-white kids in the US and other white-majority countries begin to experience microaggressions and racial stigma. Their environment is made up of people that view them as “other”, including the white kids in their schools. Soojin’s story arc of wanting to change her name to one that would be easier for white Americans to pronounce particularly stayed with me. I didn’t even have to grow up in that kind of environment and three years of people in the States mispronouncing my name drove me batty, but to be a small kid whose environment moulds her into thinking the solution to the conundrum is assimilation (because of systemic white supremacy) is both rage-inducing and heart-breaking. I know a lot of people (in India) who make fun of desis in the States for shortening or changing their names, but they never ever take into consideration the extent of this name-fuckery that POC experience which lead to that decision. 

There are a lot of relationships fleshed out and explored in the story- particularly the family ties. There is a familiar ring to the conversations among members of Amina’s family. I loved that Amina and her brother are very supportive of each other. Amina is still at the cusp of adolescence and by nature quieter, but her brother is thrust into the chaos of self-discovery with basketball and peers on the one side and his parents and their expectations n0t to abandon his culture on the other side. This was extremely relatable, especially in the context of Asian families, and I don’t think that dissonance between these cultural values and what my parents called “modern thinking” ever goes away. At the same time, the parents are not portrayed unfairly- they’re loving, caring, and a little strict, but have their kids’ best interests at heart. The arrival of Amina’s uncle throws some complications in their first-gen family, and their khaatirdhari (hospitality) is so familiar. Guests are considered an equivalent to god, so even with family members hosts will go out of their way to make sure their guests are respected and always comfortable. 

Another thing that I was really glad to see was that Amina and her brother do not abhor or reject their culture. Often times second/third gen Asians are portrayed as rejecting, mocking or hating their cultures (said cultures are also portrayed as old-fashioned, whacky, or straight up weird), and this portrayal either seems like pandering to white people or just written from this white gaze. While Amina is probably a little too young and the typical rebellion we see against religion and culture is seen with older kids, it feels good to read about South Asians without the “backward” shadow. Culture and religion are complicated, and they’re a part and parcel of the Asian culture, so in reality it is almost impossible to disassociate from that without a thought. When crisis strikes with the mosque being vandalized, it is hard not experience horror at the event, especially with the story being built around Amina’s family and the extent to which their lives are tied to that community. However, it was encouraging to watch the community come together in the face of blatant Islamophobia, with the help of supportive allies, not to let the violent act tear them and whatever they’ve built down, leaving readers with hope at the end of it all.

The theme of identity and self-discovery are maintained throughout the book, and explored with the storylines of multiple characters. None of the characters were one-dimensional, and even with the multiple storylines, were written wholly human. This is a very empowering story, and exposing kids to stories like this one is very crucial if we’re to fortify them with the tools to be aware of diversity in experiences, backgrounds, and cultures and dismantle systemic bigotry.

This is book is about a girl finding her voice while trying to manage friendships and figure out how her Muslim and American cultures fit together. The book is also one that shows the power of community. Amina's experiences are relatable while also providing insight into a culture that some readers will be familiar with and others will learn from. This is a lovely book that will help grow compassion.

I was interested in reading this middle grade book because the main character is a Muslim girl living in America.  I work at a school where we have some Muslim children, and I was excited to be able to offer them a book in which they could see themselves.  Having read the book, I happily purchased it for both libraries where I work.  While it is not the most earth-shatteringly creative piece of literature I have read, the characters lead everyday lives in our country and that, really, is the point.  This girl is like any other 12 year-old girl, navigating American suburban family life and middle school fears and insecurities, just with an added dimension that her religion and her family history and culture are Muslim.  The book was well-done, the characters seemed like real people, and I enjoyed having the chance to get to know them.

What a beautiful story of faith, friendship, courage and strength. I was impressed by the author's ability to develop the characters and make you see life through their perspective as opposed to your own. Reading the story of Amina' s joys and challenges and feeling the power of community was inspiring. I can't wait to book talk this one!

Now that Amina is in middle school, it seems everything is changing. Her best friend Soojin wants to hang out with Emily, a girl Amina remembers making fun of them in elementary school. Soojin wants to celebrate becoming an American citizen by changing her name, and she wants Amina to help her pick something “American.” Amina struggles to find her own place in the shifting world. Soojin encourages her to sing a solo for a chorus concert, but Amina worries she’ll freeze up and be unable to speak. Then she learns she’ll have to speak at a recitation of the Quran. She dreads the idea, especially when her very strict uncle from Pakistan volunteers to coach her the verses she’s selected to speak.

When her mosque is vandalized and the recitation canceled, Amina feels devastated. In the wake of the disaster, the community rallies around her, and she discovers that friendship crosses boundaries and survives changes, sometimes even flourishes because of them.

Post will go live 3/18/17 at 7am EDT
I heard about this book on Aisha Saeed’s blog where she recommended several books, including this one. I enjoyed reading about a practicing Muslim family and Amina’s struggle to balance her spiritual beliefs with other parts of her life. As a practicing Christian who grew up in public school, I remember facing some of the same kinds of challenges and having some of the same fears and concerns.

I loved that Amina’s best friend is a practicing Christian, too. Actually, during middle school, my best friend was a practicing Jew. I found that having deep spiritual commitment gave us a kind of common ground I wouldn’t have expected, because we both held deep belief and that sometimes held us apart from our classmates. 
It’s funny... I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to watch that relationship as a parent (my parents loved my friend and clearly valued our friendship.) Now, as a parent of a child in a school district with a significant Muslim presence, I find I feel similarly. I would love for my daughter to have a friend like Amina, because I think having someone to share that feeling of otherness that comes from a deep faith and challenging each other to love across religious lines was one of the most valuable experiences I had as a middle school kid.

My own experience aside, I loved this book. It was easy to identify with Amina. She’s a good girl who wants to do right and struggles with fear and shyness. The story really delves into her understanding of friendship and community, issues common to all of us. I enjoyed the way her relationship with her parents, her brother, and her friends at school changed as she grew to see herself differently and began to explore her connection with her community more deeply.

If you’re looking for a story that exemplifies the power of coming together as a family and a community, this is a great pick. Amina’s Voice is also a good read for a shy child trying to find his or her place in the changing landscape of school transition.