by N.H. Senzai
Fadi
blames himself for losing his little sister, Mariam, who was lost while Fadi,
his mom Zafoona, his dad Habib, his elder sister Noor and Mariam were trying to
escape the unrest in Afghanistan, which was their homeland and the place where they
were born, and then seek asylum in the United States.
Mariam is lucky enough to have possession of a
small Barbie doll, named Gulmina. Any toys that depicted human figures were
banned by the Taliban because they were considered sacrilegious. Books were
also banned, so that’s why people would buy and sell them on the black market.
Fadi only had one book, called ‘From the
Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.’
While
trying to board the army green truck that would take them to Peshawar, a city
on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, his little sister, Mariam got
lost. Fadi’s father had paid human
traffickers twenty thousand U.S dollars, which was the family’s entire savings
to get them into the adjacent country of Pakistan. Before Fadi could safely
take Mariam to the truck, the Taliban arrived, and in that rush, poor Mariam
got left behind. Later, all his family except Mariam were safe in the U.S. But
Fadi never really fitted in his new school, only making a few friends. But
then, along with the devastating news of 9/11, came the misjudged wrath of two
American boys upon Fadi and a few other Afghani boys....
For
me, this book was appealing because it showed and proved to me that not just
the families of the people that were in the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre
were affected but also the lives of many prejudiced refugees around the world
escaping the Taliban but at the same time, being mistaken FOR the Taliban or
al-Qaeda and framed as terrorists liable for all the terrorist attacks around
the world.
It
also made me realize how losing someone close to can feel, and the sense of
guilt that one may feel.
It
was a page-turning, exhilarating book that made me never want to stop reading.
Definately a re-readable book in my view.
