Review-- Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Adbel-Fattah

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab, the Muslim head scarf, full- time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Can she handle the taunts of "nappy head," the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah's debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.

Summary Credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79876.Does_My_Head_Look_Big_In_This

A quick rant...

Okay among the morbid books that I tend to adore, there are some books known mostly to the world as chick-lit (kind of like chick flick only for books).

And yes, I do read them. *ducks to avoid the hardcover good books being thrown at head*

But you know there IS only a limited amount of death, people dying, and blood that I can take. Shut up okay because I know it's the same for you too.

Therefore, I am going to review a chick-lit book. Don't hate on me just yet.

The Good: I liked most of the characters in this novel. A lot of them acted quite a bit like REAL teenagers not some adults version of teenagers which was quite nice seeing as most YA authors can't seem to get that right.

I liked that she DID have some customs of Islam and addressed an issue that is not commonly addressed is YA books. It was a bit of a breath of fresh air seeing as now most people re-use an idea over and over an over again.

I also liked that not only was she dealing with defending her decision to wear the hijab, she was also dealing with some issues that most kids deal with like crushes, telling your friends they aren't fat, school, etc.

The Bad: At times I felt like this book was preaching to me. "Not all Muslims are terrorists! Islam is a great culture." etc. I already knew that seeing as I have a couple of Muslim friends. I also felt like I should be preaching right back at her, "Not all non-Muslims think you are terrorists! Only those who can't accept that others are different from themselves!"

Also like a good click lit book, I knew exactly how it was going to end.

Which is bad if you want to be kept entertained.

Overall: A little better than normal fluffly book.

6 out of 10