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Sep 12, 2008

Shannon rated it:

This was a random buy, picked up mostly because, flipping through it, the word Tasmania caught my eye - and then I read that the author is Australian. For purely nostalgic reasons I just had to read it.

Amal is a year 11 student in her third term at a posh private school in Melbourne. She's also Muslim. An only child, her parents are health-care professionals, she has a large extended family and friends from all backgrounds and religions. Before third term begins, she decides she's r More...

14 comments like (32 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Kricket rated it:

Amal decides, completely on her own and without pressure from her (also Muslim) parents, to wear a headscarf (hijab) "full-time." Why? She wants to make a statement of her faith, and it makes her feel close to God as well as brave, especially at her prep school where she is the only Muslim. She also points out what a relief it is not to have to worry about people judging her body and worrying about her hair (but she encounters frequent judging of the hijab itself, and frequently spends More...

15 comments like (18 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2011

Lucy rated it:

Amal is Palestinian-Australian Muslim girl in eleventh grade at her snooty Melbourne prep school, when she decides that she is ready to wear the hijab, the headscarf, full time. She knows that it’s not going to be easy—she sticks out enough at her school just for being Muslim, and adding the hijab is going to make her a target for people to stare and ask her if she’s a terrorist. But she is sure that it is the right thing for her to do. Amal is smart and sassy and opinionated, and the book ex More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 25, 2010

Becky rated it:

I snatched this book right up off the new books shelf, because how often do you see a girl wearing a hijab on the cover? The cover flap told me that it was about 16-year-old Amal's decision, as an Australian-Palestinian-Muslim girl, to wear the head scarf full-time.

And that's really the basis for the story. This seemingly small decision is a big deal for her parents, who don't want her to jump into a big decision, her classmates at her snobby prep school, who take advantage of the st More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Morgan rated it:

Sixteen year old Amal makes a momentous decision right before the start of a new term at her snotty private school: she will wear the hijab. The hijab, an outward expression of her Muslim faith, will put new pressures onto Amal in addition to the normal teenagers-stressers of school, boys, and the popular crowd. Amal struggles to juggle her religious beliefs with high school drama, and is determined to define herself on her own term's and not on the judgment of others.

I know. That More...

7 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 15, 2007

Mimo rated it:

Have you ever had one of those weeks/months/years where no book is able to hold your attention? And you need a good one to break the trend? For me, this was that book.

Amal is a 17 year-old Muslim Australian who goes to a snobby (read WASP) school in the suburbs. She's always been a practicing muslim, but before the start of this book she hasn't worn the scarf, or hijab, full time. Does My Head Look Big in This chronicles her journey from deciding to "go full time" (inspire More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 13, 2007

Noreen rated it:

...oh dear. Political comment thinly - and poorly - disguised as teenage chicklit. Badly written, tedious and ranty; fancies itself as simultaneously intellectual and American-sitcom-ish. And, ironically, crammed full of stereotypes.

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2008

Bakeel rated it:

MARRRAAAA MA Y7AMSSSSssss =(

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2007

Amanda rated it:

This is another quick read. I finished it within 2 days of starting.

It is 2002, and Amal is the only Muslim at her private prep school in Australia. She is a fairly new student, as her previous school – a private Islamic school – only went to 10th grade. While watching a Friends episode during a break from school, she has an epiphany. She decides to wear a hijab (headscarf). It isn’t the first time she has worn it, but unlike before, this is her decision, not part of her school More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2008

Khalid rated it:

"Does My Head Look Big In This?" is the story of a Australian-Palestinian girl who decides to wear Hijab and the way her surroundings react to this decision.

I chose to read this book because the subject of Hijab is an interesting one to me; Hijab, in Saudi Arabia, extends beyond what's available in this story. Here, a woman is expected to cover her face completely, not just her hair. I am completely against that for more than one reason, the simplest of which are the fact More...

4 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 21, 2009

Tessa rated it:

Young adult book about a high school student in Australia who decides to wear the hijab. I don't love this one. Written in the first person present tense, I feel like the narrator’s lecturing me. Other than that, the writing style is good. It’s humorous and sometimes that works. I think two things are unsettling for me: Nothing much changes. The main character decides to wear the hijab and sticks to that decision but doesn’t really examine it except superficially. So we don’t see any growth or c More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Leslie rated it:

I don’t know about anybody else, but I’d want to return to my high school years about as much as I’d want to see the IRS on my caller ID. Those years are tough on all of us, a time for our rapidly growing ideas and minds to catch up with our rapidly growing body parts, a time to figure out who you are. My path through those hormonal years was rarely clear of debris and thorny sticks, and I always watched with a little bit of envy those whose path seemed clearer and more focused than mine.
More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Nawal rated it:

سمعت عن الكتاب كثيرا.. وما سمعته من المديح كان كثيرا جدا جدا. لذلك عندما شاهدت الكتاب على رف المكتبة التقطه بسرعه لشراءه .. وكأني لا أتوب من الحماس لكتاب تحدث عنه الكثيرين. لكن طبعا كما هو واضح من التقييم أن الكتاب ليس جيد كفاية بالنسبة لي..

بداية الكتاب يتحدث عن الفتاة أمل المسلمة -في سن المراهقة- من أسره فلسطينية تعيش في استراليا. والتي قررت أن ترتدي الحجاب بإلهام من رايتشيل قرين - نعم شخصية من مسلسل فرندز الشهير - حينما قررت ريتشل أن تظهر أمام الحضور غير مكترثة بما يقوله الناس عن More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Emily rated it:

Australian-Palestinian girl Amal decides to start wearing the hijab full time, faces racism and stupidity at school, joins the debate team, has a crush, and deals with her friends' problems: Leila has a strict mother who wants her to leave school and get married, while Simone is a size 14 and has much angst about her figure and unlovability.

It is a book with a fabulous voice and a lot of genuine humor--I skipped through some pages at random to refresh my memory and got, "So is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 03, 2008

Helen rated it:

I think the author (or publisher?) had a few goals in mind for this book.

1. Provide awareness and understanding for the lifestyle and beliefs of Islam.
2. Show someone trying to be herself in the face of adversity.
3. Illustrate a whole range of family/personal/religious issues that others go through and link them to show that the situations may be slightly different, but we all go through similar insecurities about our cultures and being different.
4. Show that a More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2008

West Region, added it

Does My Head Look Big in This? – Randa Abdel-Fattah

“It hit me when I was power walking on the treadmill at home, watching a Friends rerun for about the nineteenth time.
It’s that scene when Jennifer Aniston is dressed in a hideous bridesmaid’s outfit at her ex’s wedding. Everyone’s making fun of her and she wants to run away and hide. Then she suddenly gets the guts to jump onstage and sing some song called ‘Copacabana,’ whatever that means. I’m telling you, this rush More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 07, 2008

Anna rated it:

I was hoping this book would be laugh-out-loud funny - it wasn't. But it had a light-hearted tone and I felt like I got a lot out of it. It was so interesting to read about an Australian-Palestinian girl who was just a regular teenager, not a victim or a religious fanatic. Her faith was an important part of her life, but it wasn't her entire life. But more importantly, I think this kind of book reminds you that "Islamic militants" are a very small part of the Muslim population, jus More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 12, 2008

Ashley rated it:

Wow. I got through 25 pages of this book before throwing it aside.

I had picked this up on a whim from the library because it seemed moderately interesting and different from what I've read in the past. Sadly, it failed to entertain me for more than ten minutes.

The narrarator's voice is so annoying, it makes me want to scream. Dropping a pop culture reference every 10 words does not acheive a teen perspective. I should know, as I'm pretty much the age of Amal. And it seems More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 28, 2008

A. rated it:

It took me sometime to figure out how I feel about this book….I admit that there aren’t many books/novels that involve Muslims living in the western world, but at the same time I don’t feel that this particular book would be the best one to present an average view about Islam and Muslims.

While reading I felt that the writer was trying very hard to reflect a perfect picture about what she thinks an ideal Muslim family would look like…and to enhance the picture she also in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2007

BCL rated it:

An episode of Friends inspires Amal to take the plunge: she's going to wear the hijab full-time. Even at her private Australian prep school. Even around the boy she desperately likes. Even around the crazy, grumpy Greek Orthodox lady next door. Is she ready for it?

I loved how this book is about Amal taking ownership over her own beliefs and being proud of who she is! I just wish that the author spent less time talking about the random supporting characters; I wanted to know more More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 07, 2008

Worthingteens rated it:

Amal is the ONLY Arab Muslim at her super posh, super private, super conservative Australian High School. Amal sticks out like a sore thumb! During Winter Break, Amal decides she is going to wear the hijab fulltime. She discusses this with her parents who back her decision, but want to make sure Amal understands the prejudices she might face. When she starts back at school on Monday, her world changes. Amal is a strong, funny and likeable character. The hijab is a badge of her faith and Amal we More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 16, 2009

Gwen rated it:

This was recommended to me by a teen co-worker and major reader, who had a friend who wore Hijab. It was a new perspective for me, funny, and a pretty realistic not too over the top teen voice.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2009

Natalie rated it:

This was recommended to me by a YA librarian friend a while ago, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. The author (herself an Australian-born Muslim Palestinian-Egyptian-chocoholic, as it says on the back) does a great job of counterbalancing the fears, worries, successes and joys of a teenager who's learning to be herself in every sense of the word. It's fascinating to get inside the head of a character with such a different life experience than mine, being not only Australian but al More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Mahathi rated it:

very interesting book. it has a mix of things, religion, beliefs, humor, sarcasm, and this awesomeness to it. cool book. but i dont recommend it since i got bored a couple of times. but it is a very suitable book and can have ppl laughing out loud. not bad. but definitely some teens will like it/love it.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 22, 2007

Laura rated it:

The premise of this book is great...Muslim girl decides to wear the hijab. The problem is that the book lacked depth. I never did understand WHY the main character decided to wear the veil. I understand that it's her religion but why did she wake up one day and decide to wear it full time? In addition to this, Amal obsesses about boys throughout the rest of the book. While I remember being a teenage girl and having huge crushes, the fact that Amal's life revolves around the hijab and Adam s More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Sarita rated it:

Yesterday I picked up a book that promised to be very interesting: "Does My Head Look Big In This?" by Randa Abdel-Fattah.

This is a story about Amal, an 11th grader in Australia who happens to be Muslim, and how things go for her after she decides to start wearing the hijab* full time. Amal makes the decision during winter break, and wears it on her first day back to school.

"Does My Head Look Big In This?" has a strong opening with Amal's sudden convic More...

0 comments like

Jan 22, 2012

Nicole rated it:

This is a great story about a muslim teenage girl, Amal, living in Australia right after September 11, 2001. She is attending a private high school, is not part of "the in-crowd", and has friends of different faiths. Muslim girls wanting to show respect for their faith, cover their heads with a scarf called a hijab. Amal, knowing that the Muslim faith teaches peace, and mortified over the vilification of muslims after the attacks on America, decides it is important for her to wear the More...

0 comments like

Dec 14, 2011

Navi rated it:

/sigh

Much like Ten Things I Hate About Me, Abdel-Fattah makes everybody besides the Muslim girl a racist, horrible person. Well, not everyone. She has friends, of course, but that's it, really. Now, I'm aware of religious persecution, especially against Muslims, but the characters in this book were cliche after cliche. Girl who's bitchy to main character with no reason? Check. Racist, on top of that? Check. Rich? Check.

I'll be honest, besides shoehorning ridiculous feminist m More...

0 comments like

Nov 20, 2011

Julie rated it:

bit disappointed in this book, think it was because all these teenage angst books seem to have these perfect families that make the Waltons look like axe murderers ! this was no exception. The mother and father both have good jobs, obviously adore each other have loads of time to spend with their child, dont have stress in their own life then , are perfectly in tune with their teenage daughter who is a paragon of virtue !. The variety of wacky relatives and friends that appear on the pages. I un More...

0 comments like

Oct 26, 2011

528_Laura rated it:

Amal is a typical high school girl living in Australia who enjoys texting her friends, shopping at the local mall, and reading teen magazines about fashion and boys. Born to Palestinian parents, Amal grapples with the personal decision of wearing a hijab, a Muslim head scarf to school full time. Despite Amal’s parents’ belief, she goes ahead with her decision, living life as a 11th grader wearing a hijab in a snobby prep school where she is one of a kind. In Randa Abdel-Fattah’s funny and wit More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

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