Innocent until proven guilty? Not here you're not. Robbed of his childhood, this is one boy's fictional experience of the supposed war on terror. K...
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Oct 13, 2011
Nikki
rated it: 
This is a book I would never normally read. Luckily the bright orange cover sparked my interest enough to pick it up. When reading this author's note, "Although 'Guantanamo boy' is a work of fiction, it is inspired by real events", I bought it.
I found Khalid's story extremely eye opening and thought provoking. There was no holding back in regards to the acts of torture, the injustices and lack of basic human rights. I was horrified by it.
This book will hopefull More...
I found Khalid's story extremely eye opening and thought provoking. There was no holding back in regards to the acts of torture, the injustices and lack of basic human rights. I was horrified by it.
This book will hopefull More...
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Feb 22, 2012
Karen
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I came across this book as part of my pursuit to find young adult novels with characters whose lives stories may slightly coincide with the lives of my students. I was excited to find a book with a teenage character whose family is from Pakistan. I'm happy the book was written and understand why the author felt such passion about the topic. At the same time, I'd be hesitant to give this book to my immigrant students. The author obviously had many messages. Though there were parts about how we sh
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Feb 18, 2012
Maggie
rated it: 
I came into this book fully prepared for loving and was left disappointed. I do not take kindly to be disappointed. So I'm sorry if my bitterness shines through.
We start in the UK, where every effort is made to portray Khalid as an ordinary boy, with ordinary friends, who likes to play not-so-ordinary video games. Very elaborate misunderstandings with certain governments ensue, and already the reader is a little dazed by the backstory Perera throws at them. There are endless prison tra More...
We start in the UK, where every effort is made to portray Khalid as an ordinary boy, with ordinary friends, who likes to play not-so-ordinary video games. Very elaborate misunderstandings with certain governments ensue, and already the reader is a little dazed by the backstory Perera throws at them. There are endless prison tra More...
Sep 03, 2011
Beverly
rated it: 
Guantanamo Boy is a terrifyingly realistic novel. Khalid Ahmed, 15, was born in England. He only speaks English, rarely goes to mosque, never prays, never reads the Quran and dreams of playing professional soccer. When his parents decide to go to Pakistan to visit relatives, Ahmed is upset that he will not be spending his vacation partying with his friends. Khalid's idea of roughing it is going one day without getting on the computer. He is mortified his father wants to take the family to a thir
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Aug 19, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
It's hard for me to say that I love this book because it describes horrors, cruelties, and civil rights violations that are almost impossible to imagine in today's world. But they did happen, especially back in the early months after the attack on the World Trade Center in New York back in 2001. As I read it, I couldn't help wondering what it would take to survive and heal from being kidnapped at the age of 15 and then tortured in order to force out a confession. In the case of Khalid Ahmed, he
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Feb 07, 2011
Nesa
rated it:
Some things should never happen, but they do. Some things are too terrible to ever be forgotten. Some things demand that we stand together as humans in a fight to ensure they never happen again. Some things need to be written about so we never forget how terrible they are. Guantanamo Boy tells the tale of just such a thing.
Khalid is a 15-year-old from Rochdale spends his time doing what most boys his age do. He plays computer games and spends time with his friends. He also wishes that More...
Khalid is a 15-year-old from Rochdale spends his time doing what most boys his age do. He plays computer games and spends time with his friends. He also wishes that More...
May 26, 2010
Fiona
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 01, 2010
Polly
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Disturbing and moving in equal measure, I found this book incredibly thought provoking.
Probably not suitable for pre-teen or very sensitive readers, but this is definitely one to stimulate debate and get everyone thinking. Issues of race, religion and adolescence are all addressed in this text.
The story follows Khalid, who finds himself "involved" in the terrorist arrests in the middle east, just before the second Iraq conflict. The portrayal of his treatment and gr More...
Probably not suitable for pre-teen or very sensitive readers, but this is definitely one to stimulate debate and get everyone thinking. Issues of race, religion and adolescence are all addressed in this text.
The story follows Khalid, who finds himself "involved" in the terrorist arrests in the middle east, just before the second Iraq conflict. The portrayal of his treatment and gr More...
Aug 22, 2009
LibraryLass
rated it:
This was simpy a fantastic read. I read it cover to cover in one sitting.
This book is so far out of what I normally read. I don't read a lot of these 'issues' books written for teens. I feel they are usually over-done to say the least. This story is not in the same league as anything like those. This book is about an English-born Pakistani boy who leads the life of most normal English boys. He very rarely has seen the hate that is directed at Muslims or Pakistanis until he visi More...
This book is so far out of what I normally read. I don't read a lot of these 'issues' books written for teens. I feel they are usually over-done to say the least. This story is not in the same league as anything like those. This book is about an English-born Pakistani boy who leads the life of most normal English boys. He very rarely has seen the hate that is directed at Muslims or Pakistanis until he visi More...
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Jan 18, 2012
Danna
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I was eager to read Guantanamo Boy after reading the book jacket: I had no idea that dozens of underage boys had been kidnapped and brought to prison there in the terror-filled wake post-9/11. This felt like a story that needed to be read.
Guantanamo Boy is a novel about Khalid, a 15-year-old England native, who ends up in captivity during his family's Easter vacation in Pakistan (his father's native country). In every aspect of his life, Khalid led a normal teenage existence: obsess More...
Guantanamo Boy is a novel about Khalid, a 15-year-old England native, who ends up in captivity during his family's Easter vacation in Pakistan (his father's native country). In every aspect of his life, Khalid led a normal teenage existence: obsess More...
Oct 07, 2011
Meri
rated it:
When I first started this book, I thought I might not like it, because I was getting annoyed with the authors style of writing. The words just didn't seem to flow, and the story was going very slowly, but after he went to Pakistan, I got more into the book and really felt that the story was getting better. There were not too many graphic details about the torture that Khalid went through during his stay at the prison, just enough to give you a glimpse of what he was feeling, but not enough for t
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Jul 01, 2011
Isamlq
rated it:
It took five chapters for me to get into it. I'd heard it was a "harrowing" tale and such and such, but all I was reading was a story of young man, a boy really, whose just like any other: Khalid loves his mother, follows his father and is not as aware of the goings-on as I'd have liked him to be. When he and his family go on a vacation things change.
And harrowing things did become.
I can tell you precisely which line had me paying closer attention. When someone More...
And harrowing things did become.
I can tell you precisely which line had me paying closer attention. When someone More...
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Apr 19, 2009
Candace
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Fifteen-year-old Khalid Ahmed is like any other British boy. He plays footy with his mates, messes about in class, goes to parties, and spends far too much time on his computer playing online video games. His biggest worry is his GCSE exams. That all changes when he visits his relatives in Karachi, Pakistan, and is captured and arrested as a suspected terrorist. Tortured into confessing crimes he didn't commit, Khalid is eventually taken to imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay.
The novel go More...
The novel go More...
Dec 07, 2011
Angie
rated it: 
I won't write a synopsis since that's already covered by the other reviews.
I am reading the galley on kindle so i only know the percentage of the book that I've read so far--45%. So far (and from the start), the writing is not engaging me in this young man's mind. I am not feeling what he does; I was hoping for a story that would draw me in and shake me up. There is so much that is left out of the story that would have gotten me hooked. For example, the behaviors change too quickly without More...
I am reading the galley on kindle so i only know the percentage of the book that I've read so far--45%. So far (and from the start), the writing is not engaging me in this young man's mind. I am not feeling what he does; I was hoping for a story that would draw me in and shake me up. There is so much that is left out of the story that would have gotten me hooked. For example, the behaviors change too quickly without More...
Aug 17, 2011
Kimberly
rated it:
ARC review:
Khalid was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is a Muslim boy from England who is kidnapped and dragged to Guantanamo Bay. With no one to help him, and his family not knowing where he is, Khalid faces torture, mental and physical as images of his life flash before his eyes. And he holds onto the one thing they cannot take away from him. Hope.
Khalid is a great character. He's a teenage boy who thinks about soccer and girls. Having grown up in England, he More...
Khalid was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is a Muslim boy from England who is kidnapped and dragged to Guantanamo Bay. With no one to help him, and his family not knowing where he is, Khalid faces torture, mental and physical as images of his life flash before his eyes. And he holds onto the one thing they cannot take away from him. Hope.
Khalid is a great character. He's a teenage boy who thinks about soccer and girls. Having grown up in England, he More...
Jun 16, 2010
April
rated it:
Khalid Ahmad is a 15 year old English boy. He watches and plays futbal, works hard at school, has strong family values and an affinity for computer games. He takes a trip to Pakistan with his family, as his father must clean up loose ends after his grandmother dies. Of course, Khalid is in Pakistan in the wake of 9/11 and is picked up for being a terrorist. He is then thrown in jail without a trail, his habeous corpus suspended -- however I don't know if England has habeous corpus. Right-o. Of c
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Jul 29, 2011
Christina
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This is a powerful book about a tough subject that is not usually addressed in a teen novel, and it is good to have it now. A Pakistani British boy is kidnapped while visiting relatives in Pakistan, for no reason other than wrong place, wrong time. He is taken to secret places and interrogated, beaten, fed poorly, never given answers to his questions or allowed to call his family, and ends up in Guantanamo. It is difficult to read but also compelling, as this situation goes from bad dream to nig
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Sep 14, 2011
Julie
rated it:
This is a serious subject and I understand why the author wants young people to understand it. She has taken a 15-year-old boy and put him in Guantanamo Bay by 'accident'. The entire book takes place from his point of view and, at times, this has the unintended effect of making the reader numb to the situation. I felt like she had a check list of issues (waterboarding, misunderstanding of the Islamic culture) that she felt the need to check off.
I think it is a strong book but might ha More...
I think it is a strong book but might ha More...
May 22, 2011
Izzy
rated it:
Fifteen-year-old Khalid, a Muslim boy from England, has recently started to struggle with his religious identity and the way other people view him, especially since he looks so much older than his age. But assumptions made about him escalate to an all time high when he's abducted during a trip to Pakistan to visit family. He's taken to Guantanamo Bay without charges and once he spends time in that horrific prison, everything changes.
Everyone's heard about Guantanamo Bay and the More...
Everyone's heard about Guantanamo Bay and the More...
Jul 16, 2011
Sandra
rated it:
This is a powerful story. The author has taken the events of 9/11 and shown us how the events thereafter were just a horrific. Khalid is a fifteen-year-old boy in England. He and his family go to Pakistan to help his aunts find a place to move. His father ventures off to look at a rental and doesn’t return. His mother sends Khalid to the same address to look for his father. He doesn’t find him. On his way back to his aunt’s house he is caught up physically in a demonstration. He manages
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Nov 28, 2011
The 15-year-old sounded like a 50-year-old lecturing 15 year olds about the importance of Culture. Unrealistic voice in conjunction with weak and awkward writing didn't help differentiate among the twenty characters tossed out in the first 50 pages who are all indistinguishable.
I have a hard time with books like this, where the goal is to educate young readers about A Very Important Topic. It comes off false. There's not a story but instead, a string of Lessons to Learn. You can wri More...
I have a hard time with books like this, where the goal is to educate young readers about A Very Important Topic. It comes off false. There's not a story but instead, a string of Lessons to Learn. You can wri More...
Jun 02, 2011
Kristina
rated it:
Khalid is a normal Muslim, English boy who likes to hang out with his friends, annoy his younger siblings and play video games. When vacationing in Pakistan with his family, he is kidnapped and jailed because apparently he is a suspected terrorist. He is tortured, starved and interrogated for two years. Time and again he tells the guards that he is not a terrorist but they do not believe him. While being water boarded, he confesses to what they believe about him, just to make the torture stop.
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Sep 25, 2011
Bookworm1858
rated it:
Although I read a lot of contemporary YA, I haven't seen much dealing with one of the most pivotal events of my generation. Now I'm older, I've spent nearly half my life with my country waging the War on Terror, and though I'm interested, I've still seen very few books touching on it. I was doubly intrigued when I realized that Perera was British, lending a different perspective to her story.
This book is set about 6 months after 9/11 in England following 15 year old Khalid, an Englishm More...
This book is set about 6 months after 9/11 in England following 15 year old Khalid, an Englishm More...
Aug 04, 2011
Julianne
rated it:
This book is mediocre at best. While the story idea was good, it was not executed very well. The political message was shoved down your throat, not weaved into the storyline gracefully. The storyline was predictable and also became tedious and repetitive toward the middle.
I was very much distracted by the writing style, which I found to be very lazy and amateurish. I've never seen so many sentence fragments in one book. The author and her editor both need some more writing courses before pu More...
I was very much distracted by the writing style, which I found to be very lazy and amateurish. I've never seen so many sentence fragments in one book. The author and her editor both need some more writing courses before pu More...
Jan 29, 2012
SwensonBooks
rated it:
Guantanamo Boy (Albert Whitman, 2011 reprint) is the story of a teenager in the wrong place at the wrong time in a dangerous political climate. It’s a story of closed ears, fearful eyes and silent mouths. A story in which the small kindnesses buried deep in the heart have the power to keep a person alive, like the power of a good book (a Reader’s Digest copy of To Kill A Mockingbird read over and over again) or a piece of chocolate. Perera doesn’t just explore the fragility of individual rights
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Feb 14, 2012
seanat (elka)
rated it:
An unexpected subject for a teen read but an important one.
Khalid an unexceptional and naive teen is mad about; football, computer games, girls and hanging out with mates. Born to liberal hardworking Pakistani muslim parents he rarely even experiences conflicts between his lifestyle and religion.
This all changes when he visits Pakistan for a family holiday and finds himself kidnapped, imprisoned without charge and then sent to Guantanamo as a suspected terrorist.
The to More...
Khalid an unexceptional and naive teen is mad about; football, computer games, girls and hanging out with mates. Born to liberal hardworking Pakistani muslim parents he rarely even experiences conflicts between his lifestyle and religion.
This all changes when he visits Pakistan for a family holiday and finds himself kidnapped, imprisoned without charge and then sent to Guantanamo as a suspected terrorist.
The to More...
Jun 01, 2011
Little
rated it:
A really good insight into the cruelties of guatanamo bay. She really captures the essence of what happened because the book does get a bit boring and drags on but thats the whole point of it. I think Perera really wants you to feel what her main character is.
I took this book out after I watched the Indian movie New York which was a movie about American(Indian) who gets put in Guantanamo Bay for taking to many pictures of the New York building ( which was for uni as he was an architectur More...
I took this book out after I watched the Indian movie New York which was a movie about American(Indian) who gets put in Guantanamo Bay for taking to many pictures of the New York building ( which was for uni as he was an architectur More...
Sep 29, 2011
Julie
rated it:
This is surely an important issue, a shocking story, a horrible situation, and something we all need to be aware of.
But...this book is written so badly that it was hard for me to focus all my energy on the story.
Honestly, my 6th graders used to write like this. Most of the sentences fragments. Wooden dialogue. Overuse of the same words (spark, brain, weird). Juvenile transitions ("Then one day..." "Until...").
So...rewrite this book with More...
But...this book is written so badly that it was hard for me to focus all my energy on the story.
Honestly, my 6th graders used to write like this. Most of the sentences fragments. Wooden dialogue. Overuse of the same words (spark, brain, weird). Juvenile transitions ("Then one day..." "Until...").
So...rewrite this book with More...
Apr 24, 2011
Jess - The Tales Compendium
rated it:
This is an amazing and important story. It deals with issues such as human rights, prejudice, war, family, torture, psychological pain and adolescences. The life in temporary prison camps and solitary cages is very well portrayed, as is the imprisonment of innocent people, not just Khalid. This book will prompt debate and will be a book of interest to politically aware teens, but even those who do not usually read this kind of story will find it a compelling read. Ages 14+
Mar 28, 2010
Natalia
rated it:
This book shows us what some people;innocent or guilty, have had to face in the real world, no magic,no fantasy and no romance. This fifteen year old boy is visiting his aunty and uncles in pakistan, a war torn country, when he gets kidnapped and starts a life changing journey, where people think you are a terrorist and people believe you are lying. He is beaten and tortured and sent to Guantanamo Bay where he spends at least a year in this horrible hell hole.
