Neither This Nor That

by Aliya Husain

Neither This Nor That by Aliya Husain.Fatima is a young American Muslim whose parents immigrated to the US from India in the 1970s. Although she was born in the USA, Fatima isn't quite sure if she completely belongs. Her Desi upbringing combined with her Islamic morals , seem to be at odds with everything around her . She is neither this, nor that. Will this clash of cultures lead to Fatima's loss of identity? Will she compromise who she is to fit in? Will she be able to find a balance? Read on to discover what will become of a feisty young girl who struggles to find who she truly is

Genres: Muslims

260 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2010

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

i'm very particular about choosing books to read. usually we only read instructional, historical or classical books. in this case i thought maybe there would be some benefit in that my children would have a peek into a life a bit different than theirs. i looked up the author and saw that she wears hijab. so i took a chance and paid about 5 times what i normally pay for a book. we enjoyed the story and getting to know what life was like for one ABCD. i identified with the 80's references and was able to fill my kids in on all of them.

BUT

this book is filled with profanity. i wish i could get my money back but alhamdulillah at least i decided to read it aloud to my kids instead of letting them read it on their own. the main character, fatima, uses so many curse words that at one point her mother even echoes one of the more vulgar ones. fatima also uses the name of a prophet, peace be upon him, in vain. in general her character is disrespectful to her parents, never actually doing what she's not allowed to, but rolling her eyes and saying 'whatever' to her mother. also, thinking of rude answers to an auntie but responding as she's expected to.

overall, i regret buying the book and i wouldn't spend any money on another book by this author without reading it first.

[Khadija · Rating 4 out of 5]

the beginning was quite slow and i wasn't as interested as i would've liked to be.
But the end was excellent and it was really easy to follow. I actually understood all the problems a trials that Fatima had to go through. I think it's the effect of having grown up and lived in a western country with all the cultures and traditions of back home; and the fact that most of the time your parents and grandparents are still influenced by the stereotypes of back home that affects us most. Like Fatima's grandmother... i was actually really surprised she wanted her married off at 16; and i was getting really annoyed at her regular speeches of the querks of getting married young. But i do understand that parents worry about us because of the influences we may be under in a western country... and the fact that some people actually begin to follow this 'influence' ad start smoking and drinking doesn't really help the rest of us who want a bit of freedom.
But, overall i did enjoy the story of Fatima especially the ending, it was predictable but i'm glad everything worked out.

[Kashifa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the way it protrayed the main character. The girls in the book repeatedly said bad words in front of their parents and also disrespected them which is definately not how it is in a typical Indian family. When the girls said bad words in front of their parents, the parents did not even say anything to stop them. That is not how things work in a Muslim or Indian family. There were also some spelling errors in the book.

[Nabz388 · Rating 4 out of 5]

hilarious... could easily relate to it:)

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think many first and second generation Americans will enjoy this book.