Girls Rock: Indonesia

Against All Odds

by Claudia Bellante, Josefina Schargorodsky (Illustrator)

Three young Muslim girls in Indonesia discover their passion for heavy metal music in this empowering new picture book.

In a small village in Java, Indonesia, three young Muslim girls begin to explore their passion for heavy metal music after watching a Metallica concert on YouTube. They worry about what their parents and friends—and even their Imam—will think about their new interest. But they persevere regardless, and find new meaning in their lives and new ways to connect to their religion.

The stories told in the “Against All Odds” picture book series are true stories of brave boys and girls from different parts of the world, who, with their small everyday actions, beat the odds and achieve something great. The series is intended to promote diversity and acceptance by exposing children to kids’ stories from faraway places facing unfamiliar situations or overcoming prejudice.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Nonfiction, Religion, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published November 22, 2022

Reviews

[Kirin]

This book is part of a series that claims to want to bring the world closer to American children.  It is based on a true story, with noted liberties taken regarding the protagonists, and yet the Author's Note says she went to Indonesia and was unable to meet with the characters whose lives the book is about.  I am not against non Muslims and non Indonesians per se writing a book about Muslims in Indonesia, nor am I naïve to the fact that music inspires many and radicalism is a real threat, but to conflate ideas without explanation, and not containing that OWN voice authenticity or biography feel, really leaves this book fighting against self made stereotypes and trying to seem woke and relevant while maintaining a very Western American paradigm of what it means to be happy and fulfilled.  The book (and series) may have had good intentions, but it just felt off to me, and with a publisher suggested reading age of 5-8, I think this book assumes too much about the readers prior understanding of hijab, Quran, Indonesia, music, heavy metal, radicalization, small village life, culture, Islam, Quran, imams, and prejudice and fails to assist in connecting the concepts, opting to use them interchangeably and ultimately making the 32 page book rather pointless.  I think if older children read it, it is one of those books that makes one feel like they are cultured and supportive of those breaking stereotypes, but I think Indonesian and Muslim readers will just be confused about why a book is supporting sneaking and lying and why music is ok, but loud metal is not, and why a Muslim teacher could have a band years before, but the current characters are receiving backlash now, amongst so many other things.

The book starts with basic information about Indonesia: Java, Jakarta, religion, and the motto.  It also includes hijab as something some Muslims wear but does not detail why or what it entails.  It then introduces the reader to three girls that go to school and study Quran, as the pride of their parents and village. The girls feel something is missing and while they are "studying" they in reality are often secretly watch YouTube videos after learning about the heavy metal band Metallica from their teacher.  

The girls want to learn to play, but fear their parents will get mad, why they would get mad is not articulated, so they go to their teacher and whisper their passion for heavy metal "as if they are confessing a sin." Their teacher, Pima, says she used to play in a metal band, and that they can use the instruments in her garage to learn and practice.

So while their parents think they are studying, they are playing music.  The book says music is not against their dreams, not against Islam, they choose to wear hijab, they start to write their own lyrics, and their teacher arranges for a producer to come listen to them. The girls worry the imam will get mad and so will their parents. When a local interview airs, the teacher asks negative folks, "who says a girl in a hijab can't play loud music? Does the Quran forbid following your dreams?"

Pima regrets letting the naysayers deter her from her music dreams, but earlier said her band broke up when the members moved or got married.  The parents seem fine when a festival in Jakarta is about to happen and presumably they live happily ever after.

The backmatter then throws in radicalism and Muslim feminist groups, and I'm not sure what the takeaway would be for Muslim or non Muslim children reading this book.  I admittedly haven't read the other books in the series, but I would be skeptical of their portrayal of cultures and religion after reading this one, it isn't so much that it is wrong, but it just seems to water the reality down to make it more "palatable" and "acceptable" to American children which results in strong themes of "othering" and dismissal.

[Dave Schaafsma]

My third book in the Against the Odds picture book series about girls/women around the world doing things against the odds." So some girls in rural Indonesia are studying Quran, wearing hijab, and they discover Metallica through their teacher, who also used to play in a metal band. The teacher supports them, even as they may face "radical Islamist" criticism.

As with the Wrestling Cholitas of Brazil and the Mermaids (synchronized swimmers) of Jamaica, I like knowing these folks exist, doing what they do. There's a kind of exoticizing in all of it that troubles me a bit, written for American audiences in mind, and as with the other stories, we don't get to really know any of the principal actors in these stories. It again feels somewhat abstract. Some of it is political, because there is resistance to what they do, and they are in danger, but still, I'd like to hear their actual voices. The author went to Indonesia, but couldn't actually get back to the area where they lived, so she relied on talking to the teacher and other musicians there. Still, Metallica in Hijab in Indonesia, why not? Cool.

[Cheryl]

I loved learning about Indonesia (Jakarta is 40 million people in one city!) and about how Islam and the Qur'an are not anti-metal music. I didn't love the art, especially how it made the text so hard to read. (Small white font on light colored bubbles that were 'translucent' to the colors of the image behind.) I'll consider more from the Against All Odds series.

[Mari]

This book is not fair to the general Muslim population, Indonesians, and to so many others.

I can’t be the only one noticing that Westerners that are publishing stories seem to love and be obsessed with rebellion and rebellious nature. They seem to hate soft, flowery things. It's like they hate femininity and absolutely abhor traditional values and customs and hate seeing it in other cultures.

You see it subtly in Mulan. You see it in the way Marie Kondo is ridiculed. You see it in soooooooooo many stories written by westerners about non western people. This is probably the FIRST (or perhaps second) picture book I’ve ever come across about characters from Indonesia. It says a lot that one of the first books like this is already about some small little group who goes against the grain rather than one that represents the general Indonesian population.

This book is manipulative with its wording about Islam (and lacks mentioning its distinction from local culture) and Muslims, and this book comes with an agenda.

I just read the book so I need to process my thoughts so I can word this review better, but I don’t recommend this.

[Melanie Gaum]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Joy]

Loved it! I wish there were an older readers’ edition. Great story!

[Denicemarcell]

Of the series I feel I learned the most about these young women and their dreams.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.