Does My Head Look Big in This?

Rada Abdel-Fattah (author)

Pan Macmillan, Australia: 2005; 340pp

ISBN: 0330421859

Genres: humour, realistic fiction

Issues: community, family, friendship, identity, racism, religion, tolerance

Amal Abdel-Hakim is a sixteen year old with an identity hyphen problem. She's Australian-Palestinian-Muslim. What's more, she's decided to become a full-timer and that doesn't refer to work.

Amal has decided that as an expression of her faith she's going to wear the hijab or head scarf at all times - including school. A pretty brave decision to make when you attend an ultra-conservative co-educational private school. This is just one of the aspects of being a practising Muslim that Amal, at sixteen, has to deal with in a society that is really quite ignorant of the varieties of belief and behaviour within her religion. One that is so often publically associated only with terrorism. Funny, informative, and passionate, this is a novel to challenge stereotypes and set teens thinking - hopefully before they accept media and political stereotypes.

Written in the first person by a very bright sixteen year old with firm opinions about her right to be herself, this novel contains a wonderful range of images of Australian Muslims and reminds the reader people are individuals and don't fit into a box labelled ‘Muslim' just because of their belief system. For many readers this novel may open their eyes to the social and emotional challenges faced by ‘identity hyphened' teens in mainstream schools in Australian, whether they are Muslim, Hindu or new migrants.

The only drawback to this novel is that it is so focussed on exploring the issue of Muslim identity that the narrative is somewhat anaemic and directionless. The characters of Amal and her friends are so believable, so real, however, that it is possible to forgive this and enjoy seeing, through their eyes, their very different families and school experiences.

Worth reading just because of the title!

NB: would make an excellent parallel novel study with Looking for Allibrandi.

Quotes:

"As I look from Cassandra to Yasmeen to Omar... I can't help but wonder how odd it is that some people think there is a ‘Muslim appearance'. ... I wonder, then, what some people say when they learn that Cassandra's surname is Khan. When they see her blue eyes, pale skin, freckles, blonde eyelashes and light eyebrows underneath her beanie. When they see her arms linked with a dark, balding Pakistani. When they're introduced to her freckle-faced, dark-eyed, white daughter and chocolate-skinned son."

"Do you have any idea what it feels like to be Muslim, today? I mean, just turn on the television, open a newspaper. There will be some feature article analysing, deconstructing, whipping up some theory about Islam and Muslims. Another chance to make sense of this phenomenon called ‘the Muslim'... It feels like you're drowning in it all. Like you can never come up for air. Another headline or documentary comes back and slams you under the water again."