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Broken Moon
I WILL NEVER HAVE A HUSBAND, BUT I HAVE THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD. YOUR BREATH ON MY CHEEK -- ON MY SCAR -- FELT LIKE THE BREATH OF ALLAH.
Nadira is spoiled goods. Scars from a beating she received for a crime that her older brother allegedly committed tell the world that she is worth less than nothing -- except to her little brother, Umar, who sees beauty in her scars and value in her.
But Umar is gone -- perhaps kidnapped or maybe sold. All Nadira knows is that Umar has been taken into the desert to ride camels for rich sheiks. He could be lost to her forever.
For Umar, Nadira will risk everything. So she disguises herself as a boy and searches out the men who took him. They are not hard to find, and soon she, too, is headed to the desert to be a camel jockey.
Life in the desert is more brutal than Nadira imagined. All she has to protect her and the boys she meets are a bit of chai tea, some stories, and the hope that she has enough of both to keep going until she finds Umar.
BROKEN MOON IS A SPELLBINDING, LYRICAL TALE THAT WILL CAPTURE READERS, HEARTS AND SOULS.
Nadira is spoiled goods. Scars from a beating she received for a crime that her older brother allegedly committed tell the world that she is worth less than nothing -- except to her little brother, Umar, who sees beauty in her scars and value in her.
But Umar is gone -- perhaps kidnapped or maybe sold. All Nadira knows is that Umar has been taken into the desert to ride camels for rich sheiks. He could be lost to her forever.
For Umar, Nadira will risk everything. So she disguises herself as a boy and searches out the men who took him. They are not hard to find, and soon she, too, is headed to the desert to be a camel jockey.
Life in the desert is more brutal than Nadira imagined. All she has to protect her and the boys she meets are a bit of chai tea, some stories, and the hope that she has enough of both to keep going until she finds Umar.
BROKEN MOON IS A SPELLBINDING, LYRICAL TALE THAT WILL CAPTURE READERS, HEARTS AND SOULS.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published February 27, 2007
4 people are currently reading
304 people want to read
About the author
Kim Antieau
125 books56 followersKim Antieau is the author of several novels and short stories for adults and teenagers, including Mercy, Unbound. She graduated Eastern Michigan University and lives with her husband, poet Mario Milosevic, in the Pacific Northwest. Aside from writing books, she works as a librarian.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 30, 2009
* In this short, but powerful novel of contemporary Pakistan, Nadira writes to her younger brother Umar telling the sad story of their family's downfall. An older brother was accused of rape, and Nadira was the victim of the family's revenge, scarring her face and body; after her father died, the family was dependent on cruel Uncle Rubel. When Umar is missing, Nadira is determined to find him. She learns that small boys are often kidnapped or sold to be taken to the Gulf States to be used (and often abused) as camel jockeys. Having no success, she makes the dangerous decision to disguise herself as a boy so she can be taken to the camel camps and search for Umar. The descriptions of life in the camps are horrific, but Nadira, as Ali Akbar, forms the boys with her into a team to protect them against older boys. The hopeful ending is perhaps unrealistic, but satisfying within the context of the story. An author's note detailing some facts about these child camel jockey's would have been a welcome addition. This joins titles such as "Sold" by Patricia McCormick; "Fattening Hut" by Pat Lowery Collins; and "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan about young women struggling to survive despite the obstacles placed by a traditional culture.
November 23, 2007
What a great read! I hope this kidnapping of boys to work with camels in the desert isn't really happening in this day and age, but I'm afraid it probably is, as this author wouldn't just invent something this detailed out of thin air.
Nadira is a strong female character, a survivor, and I like the way the story of Scheherazade inspires her. Highly recommended.
Nadira is a strong female character, a survivor, and I like the way the story of Scheherazade inspires her. Highly recommended.
June 17, 2018
4.5 Stars
I could not put this book down. The main character, Nadira, has such an engaging voice, and I was always eager to know what happened next, even before the main plot got moving. With the main plot, though, things got quite tense, and I was genuinely worried something horrible was about to happen.
Which, side note with that, this book has a dark theme of sexual abuse running through it. It never goes into detail, but wow, I hadn't expected the book to go there, and it makes it even worse because this really happens in the middle east.
I love the character of Nadira. Her past and the scars it left have led her to view life differently from others in her culture, and I love how resourceful she was.
My only wish is that this book was longer. The ending seemed a little abrupt, but I think that's mostly because I wasn't wanting the story to end (mostly, being the keyword--and further thoughts on this can be found in the spoiler section below). I want to continue to follow Nadira on her adventures, and just see her meet the challenges of life.
If you can't tell, I loved this book. :P If you're on the fence about reading it, give it a try. It showed me a part of the world I knew nothing about.
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Just a quick thought I had. I think the ending feels abrupt because the focus of the book is on finding her brother. However, the climax isn't when she finds her brother, but when she has to win her freedom. I don't mind the shift, as a lot of times in stories, the character finds what they need is something different than what they were seeking, but... Her winning her brother's freedom felt too easy. I never was worried about her losing the race, as she had proved she was better than everyone else with the camels. So, I'm not sure how to fix the ending, but there needs to be something more to finding/freeing her brother, and then the true climax of her winning her freedom can follow.
I could not put this book down. The main character, Nadira, has such an engaging voice, and I was always eager to know what happened next, even before the main plot got moving. With the main plot, though, things got quite tense, and I was genuinely worried something horrible was about to happen.
Which, side note with that, this book has a dark theme of sexual abuse running through it. It never goes into detail, but wow, I hadn't expected the book to go there, and it makes it even worse because this really happens in the middle east.
I love the character of Nadira. Her past and the scars it left have led her to view life differently from others in her culture, and I love how resourceful she was.
My only wish is that this book was longer. The ending seemed a little abrupt, but I think that's mostly because I wasn't wanting the story to end (mostly, being the keyword--and further thoughts on this can be found in the spoiler section below). I want to continue to follow Nadira on her adventures, and just see her meet the challenges of life.
If you can't tell, I loved this book. :P If you're on the fence about reading it, give it a try. It showed me a part of the world I knew nothing about.
SPOILERS BELOW!!!
Just a quick thought I had. I think the ending feels abrupt because the focus of the book is on finding her brother. However, the climax isn't when she finds her brother, but when she has to win her freedom. I don't mind the shift, as a lot of times in stories, the character finds what they need is something different than what they were seeking, but... Her winning her brother's freedom felt too easy. I never was worried about her losing the race, as she had proved she was better than everyone else with the camels. So, I'm not sure how to fix the ending, but there needs to be something more to finding/freeing her brother, and then the true climax of her winning her freedom can follow.
July 28, 2010
By night a weaver of tales, by day a scarred, scared young women.
As 18 year old, Nadira writes home to her little brother, Umar, she slowly reveals through her letters and stories her sadness at her unmarriageable status due to scars inside and out. The most prominent - a half moon scar on her face - left by an assault, allowed by Pakistani traditions, as revenge for her brother’s alleged assault on a rival family’s daughter.
When her brother goes missing, Nadira is convinced her cruel Uncle Rueben has sold him to the camel riders as an illegal child jockey. Feeling she has nothing to lose, Nadira dresses as a boy and sells herself to the camel riders, hoping they will take her to the same camp as Umar. Instead, she is taken to an desert camp where bullies gradually wearing down the new boys spirits. During the day Nadira trains for the races, and takes care of the camels with the other boys, hoping to go to a race and find her brother. At night she resourcefully tries to protect her little group from the bullies. In a final attempt to stop them from being attacked, Nadira makes an offer of peace with masala chai and stories from the Arabian Nights.
As her friendship with the bullies and her usefulness to the camel riders grows, Nadira begins to come to terms with herself and learns that even emotional scars can begin to heal.
Antieau's breathtaking story of loss, determination and the power of tales, can not fail to leave readers moved. Narrated through letters to her brother, the past and present are skillful woven together with the life and the traditions of Pakistan, highlighting the hideousness of child slavery and assault.
As 18 year old, Nadira writes home to her little brother, Umar, she slowly reveals through her letters and stories her sadness at her unmarriageable status due to scars inside and out. The most prominent - a half moon scar on her face - left by an assault, allowed by Pakistani traditions, as revenge for her brother’s alleged assault on a rival family’s daughter.
When her brother goes missing, Nadira is convinced her cruel Uncle Rueben has sold him to the camel riders as an illegal child jockey. Feeling she has nothing to lose, Nadira dresses as a boy and sells herself to the camel riders, hoping they will take her to the same camp as Umar. Instead, she is taken to an desert camp where bullies gradually wearing down the new boys spirits. During the day Nadira trains for the races, and takes care of the camels with the other boys, hoping to go to a race and find her brother. At night she resourcefully tries to protect her little group from the bullies. In a final attempt to stop them from being attacked, Nadira makes an offer of peace with masala chai and stories from the Arabian Nights.
As her friendship with the bullies and her usefulness to the camel riders grows, Nadira begins to come to terms with herself and learns that even emotional scars can begin to heal.
Antieau's breathtaking story of loss, determination and the power of tales, can not fail to leave readers moved. Narrated through letters to her brother, the past and present are skillful woven together with the life and the traditions of Pakistan, highlighting the hideousness of child slavery and assault.
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December 21, 2015In the book Broken Moon, written by Kim Antieau, there were many issues discussed and shown throughout the book. The Pakistan region, shown by the book, is filled with plenty of different difficulties and problems that are faced every single day, and will always come back, whether or not you deal with them. The issue that I saw and learned from was gender discrimination, mainly against women in the Pakistan region. What I learned is that humans are discriminated way too much, and it can vary from color to gender, to religion to style, and much more. Three reasons this is evident in the book is that it describes the way the men treat the women in the main character's village, whose name is Nadira. The men treat the women as dumb, clueless beings who don't need to know anything except for serving and cooking, making them the household maids and basically having them just to do physical work. The women also don't get treated respectively, as they are beaten and punished if they do anything wrong, as well as having no mercy on them, because men believe that women have no value. Lastly, the lack of rights for women is very obvious, and they can't have any say on basically anything. This supports what I learned because it shows that gender discrimination is a thing, and that it isn't a myth, a legend, or a conspiracy. People deal with it every day, and unless we help them, it will just get worse and worse.
August 19, 2008
I liked this book. I'm all about the quick reads and this book was one of them. I know the story was fictional, but it hinted to the fact that it was based on realistic happenings. This story tells of a girl who's young brother is kidnapped and sold to camel trainers in the middle east. She narrates her tale of self-discovery and gives the reader a glimpse into the world of camel races in the desert.
There are so many bad things happening around the world and it takes couragous people to do something about it. This main character is one of those people.
The only thing I did not like about this book was that it was predictable. It wrapped up nicely in the end and was therefore a little too fictional for me.
There are so many bad things happening around the world and it takes couragous people to do something about it. This main character is one of those people.
The only thing I did not like about this book was that it was predictable. It wrapped up nicely in the end and was therefore a little too fictional for me.
August 2, 2009
This was a wonderful YA book. It tells the story of a teenage girl growing up in Pakistan and dealing with some very harsh circumstances. The book manages to cover the issues of the extreme social inequalities for women in this culture, the child slave trade, and fundamentalist "honor" attacks on women. If I taught a High School lit class, I would definitely look into this book. The other side of the story is the parallel that the plot has to the Shaharazad story. The writing is very lyrical, and emotionally powerful. My only caveat is that the subject matter is not appropriate for some middle school age levels.
March 26, 2008
Nadira, a Pakistani girl whose face is scarred from a brutal beating, disguises herself as a boy to track down her kidnapped brother. In the brutal camps where camels and boy jockeys train for races, Nadira uses her wits and storytelling ability to survive and find a way to locate her brother and improve the lives of fellow camel jockeys. She proves her worth is far more than an unscarred face. Despite its rather implausible resolution, this is a fine coming of age story and an excellent tribute to Shahrazad.
December 16, 2009
This book was amazing. A Pakastani girl named Nadira, who was brutally beaten after her brother was accused of things, goes out looking for her youngest brother, Umar, that was sold by her uncle. She diguises herself as a boy and goes to the place where Umar was sold and becomes friends with the kids there. Im the end she finds her brother while they race on the camels, Nadira wins so she has one wish, she goes to the "bosses" and begs them to set her and Umar free. They do and so do the other kids. There are some parts like the Shadow boy, the stories, the 2 boys, surviving at the place.
October 12, 2008
This was a heart-breaking an intersting story about a girl who is gang raped and scarred as punishment for her brother's alleged crime in Pakistan. When her brother is taken at the age of six to be a camel jockey, she goes undercover to find him.
I had never even heard of the camel jockey practice before. It is horrible and interesting all at the same time. This book reads very simply, but teaches a lot.
I had never even heard of the camel jockey practice before. It is horrible and interesting all at the same time. This book reads very simply, but teaches a lot.
April 21, 2010
A curious look into camel racing using little boys stolen from homes in the Middle East, taken from families who cannot afford them or need some quick income. It's a story told over and overa gain, a girl taking on the responsibility for her family (in this case, her widowed mother) and becoming a boy to rescue her brother. Although there are cultural references, it doesn't give as complete a picture as something like The Breadwinner.
August 19, 2009
I read this several years ago. I rated it a three because when I glanced through it I could remember the whole story. It was cute and easy. I remember thinking it had things that upset me at the time though. It reminded me a lot of "alphabet of dreams" (or whatever that book was called) just less graphic.
September 13, 2011
Nadira is ruined by the scar on her face, the result of an assault on her for her brother's alleged crime. Nadira works as a maid, and her only joy is in her little brother Omar. Now Omar is gone, sold to the camel owners to be a jockey. Nadira must emulate Shaharazad and disguise herself as a boy to infiltrate the camel camp and rescue her brother.
June 21, 2016
Very good book. This is the correct way to write about a girl disguising herself as a boy (I'm looking at other books out there). The closeness between Nadira and Umar, along with the other boys, was so touching. And her fondness for story-telling was touching too.
August 13, 2007
Like sold, Pakastani boy is kidnapped and maybe sold by his uncle to become a camel jockey, a very rough and dangerous life. His sister dresses as a boy to save him. A little improbable, but well told.
June 12, 2008
A young girl's search for her brother, who was stolen to be used as a camel jockey. This book was on the recommended summer reading list at my granddaughter's high school. Long way from the things we read in my day, but good to know that a more global awareness is being offered.
March 21, 2014
I loved so many things about this book: the letter format, Nadira's strength and bravery, the honest but beautiful portrayal of horrible events, and the stories woven throughout the main story. Most of all, I loved the message that stories bring us together and heal us.
March 21, 2014
Just beautiful! I loved the letter format and the stories woven throughout. Nadira is an unforgettable character, and so are the boys she meets. A beautiful story about the power of stories to hold us together and heal us!
September 27, 2017
Very moving young adult book about a modern Pakistani girl to rescue her younger brother, who was kidnapped and sold to be a camel jockey. Beautiful and uplifting while still being honest about real cultural issues.
July 25, 2008
Awesome! Sure widened my understanding of some of the challenges a girl (boys too) face in the middle eastern countries.
November 6, 2008
A disturbing insight into the abuse of children in the middle east as told by a teenage girl. It was worth reading.
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March 15, 2010I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK. ITS ABOUT A MUSLIM GIRL NAMED NADIA WHOS GOING TO DISGUISE HER SELF AS A BOY TO RESCUE HER BELOVED BROTHER UMAR WHO WAS KIDNAPPED.
December 27, 2017
An enjoyable little book that helps the reader remember inhumane treatment of innocent people happens daily all around the world.
May 11, 2012
An engrossing YA novel which touches briefly on issues of women's rights in an Arab culture.
June 15, 2016
Similar to McCormick's Sold. Short but solid. Wonderful tie in to Shahrazad and the One Thousand Nights storytelling!
March 21, 2019
Nadira is a kind-hearted, strong girl. This is a unique book and story I haven’t really seen before. Quick and easy, worth the read. :)
September 25, 2023
I really enjoyed this book! I had a hard time enjoying some of the stories that were told, but it did give me a little insight into a different culture. I am so happy that it had such a happy ending except for Youssef. I would highly recommend this book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2022
Not your typical adventure novel, but reads more like an oral storytelling. I like how it weaves in myths and tales from the culture.
September 24, 2024
I really wanted to like this book, set in South Asia, relating the story of a young girl, but it just didn't resonate.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews