Gr 4–8—When Nimra switches from her small religious school to a public one, her new classmates make
assumptions about her faith and she struggles to make friends. She agrees to sing with Barakah Beats, the popular
Muslim boy band at school, even though performing goes against her beliefs. In this powerful story of identity and
independence, Nimra eventually learns that just as there is no one right way to be a teenager, there is no one right
way to practice faith—she must be true to herself.

Nimra is 12 and begins her 7th grade year at public middle school after attending a small religious school. Her Muslim faith is important to her. She wears hijab and is the only student at her new school that does so. Her long time bestie, Jenna, goes to the school but when Nimra arrives she isn't accepted by her bestie and her click. But she does connect with the members of Barakah Beats, a band comprised of cool 8th grade kids. Nimra wants her best friend back and this prompts her to make some dishonest choices, which kind of tortures her and this becomes a bit of a cyclical struggle in the audiobook. The big event for the band is to play in a talent show. ( )

I was sucked in to this story -- it's really well told, and I appreciated the author's respectful depiction of several ways of interpreting Islam. It's unusual to have a contemporary middle grade book where the main character eventually chooses not to pursue something that she feels in her heart is haram _for her_ , but isn't in any way judgmental about others participating. Even more unusual when she has stumbled across a significant surprise talent and chooses not to pursue it. Great messages here about being honest with your friends, figuring out who your true friends are, and starting over when things don't go well at first. It's fun, it's sweet, and there are some big thoughts going on. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-7

Plot Summary: Nimra just finished memorizing the entire Qur'an at her private school, and now her family has decided it's time for public school for the very first time. Nimra is excited that she will finally go to school with her best friend. On the first day, Nimra can tell things are off with Jenna for the first time ever. It takes up a lot of brain space as Nimra tries to find a quiet place to pray. Ending up in the band room, Nimra is interupted by a group of 8th graders who are practicing the music for their band. Annoyed, Nimra loudly chants her prayers. When she emerges from the small room, the band is in awe and asks her to join for her amaing voice.
Nimra's family has chosen not to participate in music outside of prayer for religious reasons. Much more into art than music anyway, Nirma thinks this will be an easy choice. But Nimra realizes that she needs to fight for her and Jenna's friendship to be back to normal. Will joining a band with the popular 8th grade band get Jenna back? Should Nimra join against her own beliefs? Will she and Jenna ever be back to normal?

Setting: unknown suburb

Characters:
Nimra Sharif - loves to draw and do art, begs her parents to take art classes in middle school
Mama and Baba - fight with Nimra's grandparents about the way Nimra is raised
Jenna - Nimra's best friend, lives in the neighborhood
Bilal, Matthew, Waleed - band members of Barakah Beats, all Muslim, Matthew's parent(s?) converted
Khadijah - younger sister of one of the band members, prays during lunch

Recurring Themes: morals, Muslim, music is Islam, creativity, songwriting, friendship

Controversial Issues:
possibly the strong Muslim themes in the book, but it is never pushy, just representative of who the character is

Personal Thoughts: This book was definitely a window or a door for me. I learned more about Islam by reading it. It never felt pushy and was very well written. It was a fun read that could be read by all races and religions.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: medium-fast
Characters: fairly well developed, memorable
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

Narrated by Salena Qureshi. After years of attending a private Muslim school, Nimra begins middle school with the public system. She looks forward to attending the same school as best friend Jenna and hanging out more together. But Jenna acts differently around Nimra since finding out Nimra continues to wear her hijab in public school. In an attempt to regain their friendship, Nimra joins Barakah Beats, a popular singing group at the school. Their friendship seems to be getting back on track but guilt builds for Nimra--her family's practice of Islam does not include performing music and she has not told her parents about being in the band or that the group will perform at a benefit talent show. Her bandmates don't know she joined them mainly to save her friendship with Jenna. The deceptions pile up and Nimra faces difficult decisions to set things right. This is a universal story of friendship and middle school complications, set within the framework of Nimra's faith. Narrator Qureshi has a youthful voice that suits this middle school tale and its emotional ups and downs. ( )