Published by Salaam Reads

Summary:  At the start of this sequel to Amina’s Voice, Amina Khokar is finishing up a month-long trip to Pakistan.  She’s grown to love the country, as well as the aunt, uncle, and cousins her family has stayed with.  When she gets back home to Wisconsin, she feels out of place and like her friends don’t understand her.  A new boy named Nico proves to be a good listener, and his interest and talents with music production encourage her to pursue her songwriting.  A social studies project about Malala and other famous Pakistani women as well as an original song help Amina to feel like she can embrace both the Pakistani and American parts of her life while helping people in both countries to be a little less afraid of one another.  288 pages; grades 3-7.

Pros:  Amina’s Voice has long been my go-to book for describing my personal experience with the “mirrors and windows” analogy about books (I learned a lot about Islam from this book and was surprised by the parallels between Amina’s Muslim community and the Presbyterian church I grew up in).  So I’m delighted that there’s a sequel, which I enjoyed at least as much as the original.

Cons:  I found out that I’ve been pronouncing Amina wrong for the last four years (it’s AH-mee-nah, not ah-MEE-nah).