Saturday, August 27, 2011

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

 Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
Arthur A. Levine
2011
266p.


3 comments:

  1. Powerful story about a girl living with a cleft lip in Afghanistan during American occupation. Zulaikha is teased by neighbors and treated cruelly by her stepmother due to the deformity of her face, yet maintains dignity despite these obstacles and an oppressive culture. She meets a woman who secretly begins to teach her how to read. This book could have been cliched, but I felt it was told with a balanced perspective that never became overly sentimental. The characters are fleshed out and the themes are strong without feeling preachy.

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  2. I really wanted to love this book, since the subject matter is so important, but unfortunately it didn't feel as authentic and absorbing to me as many reviewers describe. I found I had to push myself to finish it. While some of the themes are similar, I don't think it holds a candle to Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind, one of my all-time favorite books, which made me feel I lived for a time in a completely different culture in the Cholistan desert of Pakistan. I found the author's note at the end of the book moving -- and wonder if his own fascinating journey might not have made a more absorbing story.

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  3. I think Zulaikha is a real girl, and that is the strength of this book--showing the reader the reality of life in Afghanistan and the common experiences and feelings that people share in all cultures. A very good read, but ultimately didn't feel that the writing itself was amazing enough--at the sentence level--at the paragraph level. The writing did the job, and the plot and main character are captivating, but I don't know if it's the most distinguished book this year. We'll see on Monday, Jan. 23!

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