AUTHOR: Leslie Stella
PUBLISHED: March 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Realistic Fiction
PREMISE: Badi gets sent to a new school because he got kicked out of his old one...
MY REVIEW: I have split feelings regarding this book. On one hand, it's wonderfully written. I love the issues the author brings up in it because this is stuff that does go on in high school constantly and needs to be addressed as well as other issues that also need to be talked about such as the bs Muslims in the US frequently get thanks to 9/11.
On the other hand...it was predictable. I also feel that for all that the author did their best to make Badi and his family not stereotyped, she had no problem making the school jocks/teachers stereotyped. The jocks were very much the typical jerks that you expect in books like this and there were all the usual suspects in high school: kids who are different get picked on, jocks get special treatment, etc. It quickly turned into the typical underdog gets screwed by the system type story and thus I was able to predict what was going to happen by the middle of the book. It made wanting to finish it, kind of hard. While I understand that yes, there are schools like this and it sucks, I also wish the author had done more to make everything not so black and white regarding the situation.
So I'm split. I think the writer is good and I can't wait to read more from her. The issues raised are important. But at the same time...it was a predictable book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Contemporary fiction fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five underdogs
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