Amal Unbound The Theme
For upon |I think the theme of the book Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed is Amal’s boldness is good and bad. One of the reasons I think Amal’s boldness is bad is because the reason she is Jawad Saeed’s servant is that Amal stood up to him after he attempted to steal Amal’s Palmagranit. And she didn’t even know who he was. That shows that part of Amal’s boldness is bad. One other reason I have that Amal’s boldness is bad is that she went to the library and got a book without Jawad Saeed knowing. She even said that she didn’t have anything when Jawad Saeed asked her what was in her hand.
Why I think Amal’s boldness is good because when the police officers came to Jawad’s house and asked if they could come in. Amal said no. But they insisted, but Amal stood up for Jawad and said no again. And Jawad was at the door seeing her do that. That was good because Jawad might have gained her trust. One more reason is when Nabeela was going to get hit by Jawad Saheeb and Amal walked in and stopped it. Even though Nabeela tricked Amal into going to the shop and getting hit by Jawad Saheed because there was no shop Jawad thought Amal was running away. This all shows Amal’s boldness is good and bad.
Yes, I agree because all of these have happened and another thing is that when Nabila glared at Amal, Amal didn’t advertise her gaze, That must have taken lots of boldness, Bravery, and courage.
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Genre/Categories: Middle-Grade Realistic Fiction, Pakistan
My Summary:
Amal, living with her loving family in a quiet Pakistani village, dreams of becoming a teacher. Her educational goals are temporarily disrupted when her parents require Amal to stay home to care for her siblings while Mom recovers from childbirth. Amal is determined to keep learning despite the setback. However, events spiral out of control when Amal must work as a family servant for a corrupt landlord to pay off the family debt. Although Amal faces difficult challenges in her new and restricted life, she learns to work with others and is brave enough to take risks to effect change.
Amazon Early Rating (December): 4.8 Stars
My Thoughts:
If everyone decided nothing could change, nothing ever would.
Part of the purpose of this blog is to read diversely and to support women authors, so I’m thrilled to bring you this review.
Themes. This riveting story of a brave girl adapting to and affecting change in her circumstances is an inspiring story for all middle-grade students and adults alike, and it serves as an introduction to the topic of indentured servitude as we experience forced labor through Amal’s circumstances. Nothing accomplishes building compassion and promoting understanding better than quality literature. Other themes include class structure, sexism, poverty, and the limitations that come from being born female.
Education.
One reason this is an important book is for children to realize how important education is in a girl’s life and that not every girl in the world has this access. Even during Amal’s time working as an indentured servant, she didn’t give up hope of an education. The meaning of Amal in Arabic is “hope.” The author points out that millions of young girls fight for their right to an education. We may be most familiar with the popular and well-known Malala, and Amal represents all the lesser-known brave girls everywhere.
Why read children’s literature? The story may seem idealistic and simplistic to an adult, but reading it as if you were the target audience (4th grade and up) will enable you to appreciate the introduction of a difficult and troubling topic to a young audience. In addition, I feel it’s important that children from every culture can find themselves in stories (realizing that Amal is only an example of one girl, from one family, and she is not a stereotypical representation of all girls from Pakistan culture).
If we are buying these stories, publishers will take notice and more diverse literature will find its way into bookstores and classrooms. Finally, adult readers might want to make recommendations or buy gifts for children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews. Great literature can be enjoyed by any age, and this is a great example of a book to read with your children to generate important discussions.
Amal.
Our strong-willed protagonist is a likable and memorable character who is brave, smart, realistic, determined, smart, kind, inspirational, and a fighter. We read about her in honor of brave girls everywhere. A great companion read for this would be I Am Malala or The Girl With the Loading Voice.
Recommended. I’m highly recommending this book for readers in 4th grade and up, for readers who appreciate compelling stories, for fans of diverse reads, and those looking for a strong female heroine. It will be on my best of 2018 list and it’s one I will widely and enthusiastically recommend.
The article was originally published here.
Amal Unbound, by Aisha Saeed
Wow. WOW. My gosh, was this book fantastic! Amal Unbound was an emotional, powerful story, one I read so quickly because I simply could not put it down. Set in a poor Pakistani village with themes of social hierarchy, education, and indentured servitude, this was a searing “window” book that opened my eyes to the tragic circumstances and sacrifices that children in some communities must experience to save their families from ruin.
Amal Unbound, elegantly written by Aisha Saeed, is the story of Amal, a bookish, smart girl with dreams of becoming a teacher. But one day at the market, Amal mouths off to the wrong man: Jawad, the son of her village’s wealthy landlord. To pay off the debt for her insulting behavior, Amal is forced into indentured servitude with his family, leaving her own family behind. At the landlord’s pretentious home, Amal sees firsthand the dangers of illiteracy and gender inequality, and she begins sneaking books from the library and teaching others to read. When Amal is sent by the family to be a patron at the village’s new literacy center, she recognizes that her education has given her a powerful hand- the ability to take a critical stance against corruption.
A poignant exploration of unjust power structures and the extreme consequences families must endure repaying debts for “poor” behavior, Amal Unbound will be an eye-opener for so many students. It is an important testament to the power of education and the way words can change worlds and correct damaging social injustice and corruption. Knowledge is power, and literacy, in this story, truly becomes Amal’s key to freedom. This is an important read for all upper elementary and middle school students — a story of literacy, resistance, and, ultimately, sweet sweet justice. Amal Unbound is hands down one of my favorite middle-grade novels of 2018 so far. Two trunks up!
Want the book? Get it here! Amal Unbound, by Aisha Saeed. *This is an affiliate link. Happily Ever Elephants received an advanced review copy of this book, but all opinions expressed herein are entirely our own.
The article was originally published here.
Amal Unbound
Amal Unbound Themes
Class Privilege and Gender Discrimination: Inequities that Restrict Freedom
In Amal Unbound, Saeed calls attention to several contemporary social crises impacting people in Pakistan and around the world. Class stratification and gender inequality are forms of inequity that disproportionately affect people in lower economic classes and countries. Both keep Amal and the villagers in submissive positions where they do not have the freedom to achieve their full potential. Amal’s struggles against these injustices reflect similar plights of people around the world.
The wealthy Khan family rules Amal’s village. This situation is an example of class stratification, where society is separated into groups with different access to power and resources. The Khans feel removed from and superior to the villagers. Their home is a walled, guarded estate, in contrast to Amal’s village home with its concrete floor. Unlike the villagers, the Khans are all educated. They have access to the finest goods money can buy and have political influence in other cities. The Khans used their privilege to act as feudal landlords. They demand respect and require submission to their will. The Khans act with impunity, disregarding basic human rights, knowing that the villagers do not have the power to stop them.
The Khan family has a disproportionate amount of power which allows them to subjugate Amal and others, pressing them into indentured servitude from which, typically, they would never escape.
The article was originally published here.
Amal Unbound
Publisher’s Synopsis: “Saeed’s timely and stirring middle-grade debut is a celebration of resistance and justice.”–Kirkus Reviews starred review a compelling story of a girl’s fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude.
Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, but she has no complaints, and besides, she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when–as the eldest daughter–she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens–after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.
Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal–especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal’s growing awareness of the Khans’ nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.
The article was originally published here.
book review and a pairing: Amal Unbound
title: Amal Unbound
author: Aisha Saeed
date: Nancy Paulsen Books; 2018
main character: Amal
Review based on an advanced copy.
Among the 14 facts about Aisha Saeed on her website are the facts that she’s worked as a lawyer and an elementary teacher, she speaks three languages and she’s a fantastic air hockey player. And, she loves to write. When interviewed by Publishers Weekly about what inspired her to write Amal Unbound, Saeed explained that the first inspiration came from Malala Yousafzai, but she continued to think about young people who don’t always get noticed for what they do. “It’s important for us to think about the people who perform brave acts who will never see their names in a headline. From that premise, I started writing about Amal. I wanted her to do something brave, something people wouldn’t know about, but that would be equally important [to Malala’s real-life advocacy of education for girls].”
Amal, like Saeed, is of Pakistani descent and, Amal’s story is set in a fictional town similar to Saeed’s ancestral home. I would imagine that Saeed loved learning every bit as much as Amal. Amal loves it so much that she wants to become a teacher. But, as she leaves her classroom on the day we meet her, we find out that this will be her last day in that school. What will happen that keeps her from returning?
On her way home from school, she has a forbidden meeting with Omar, a family friend but it’s cut short by her mother going into labor. She gives birth to yet another girl. The family has no sons, only daughters, and Amal’s mother sinks into a depression because she wants a son. My Western gaze may judge this as devaluing girls however, those inside the culture know there are many ways in which women and girls are valued. Here, the family had so many girls who would fill specific cultural roles, that they wanted a son. Amal’s mother is unable to perform any of her usual household duties and Amal is required to help out more.
Amal’s father is a business owner however, he must pay rent to the landowner, Khan Sahim, who controls the local wealth. He reminded me of mob bosses or landowners to whom sharecroppers paid their dues. Some similarities do exist across borders.
Despite the condition in which Amal eventually finds herself, she still likes to learn. Here in a country where girls often don’t receive the same formal education as boys, Saeed creates a young girl who establishes her agency by reading the world; and by acquiring information from the people, events, and situations around her. While Khan Sahim is a powerful despot in the village, he’s disempowered in the story in the way Saeed delivers only his weaknesses to the reader. While several male characters do stand out in the story, it’s the relationships between the women that are the most effective. Here, women are valued.
You’ll be drawn into Amal Unbound by the gorgeous cover. Amal’s endearing character and the hope you’ll feel for her through some very harrowing situations will make this a book you’ll long remember. This is a great addition to schools and public libraries.
Pair this book with an interactive Mendhi activity. Begin by learning about the artwork on the cover of the book. [You’ll love the graphics on this page!] Research with your students to learn about the art and history of henna tattoos. Perhaps you can invite a local henna tattoo artist to your class. Use a site such as this for students to practice simple designs either on their hands or on cardboard cutouts. If you plan for students to get henna tattoos, be sure to get permission slips from parents beforehand and have the students do skin tests before creating a larger design.
Saeed’s first book, Written in the Stars was listed as the best book of 2015 by Bank Street Books and a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers.
The article was originally published here.
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