Spilled Ink

Starred review from March 25, 2024
Afghan American 17-year-old Yalda Jamali is much more private than her guitarist and songwriter twin brother Yusuf. As Muslim immigrants who run an Afghan restaurant, the twins’ parents “would be less than thrilled” to learn that Yusuf has been sneaking out to play with his band at “funky, punky” WhereHouse, especially since racial tensions have increased within their predominantly white Virginia town due to the arrival of Afghan refugee families. When an opening band encourages the audience to engage in racist rhetoric, Yusuf responds by leading the audience in a sing-along. He teases that it’s a profession of Islamic faith: “Say it three times and you’re officially converted.” Social media backlash follows, impacting their parents’ restaurant, and when Yusuf doesn’t come home one evening, the family finds him unconscious outside a strip mall. Utilizing Yal’s sharp-witted first-person POV, debut author Hashimi exposes how the prevalence of unchecked and unchallenged racism can lead to violence, as well as how American-born Afghans are othered and recently arrived Afghan refugees are scapegoated. Clever dialogue between the vividly individualized characters lightens harrowing depictions of anti-Islamic hate crimes in this tightly structured and engagingly paced read. An author’s note concludes. Ages 13–up. Agent: Sarah Heller, Helen Heller Agency.

April 15, 2024
Afghan American twins reckon with a hate crime. Yusuf and Yalda are polar opposites: Popular, outgoing Yusuf plays in a band. Introverted, artistic Yalda socializes with two close friends. After a musician at a local competition makes an Islamophobic joke onstage targeting recent Afghan refugee arrivals, Yusuf pranks the audience. His response goes viral, and tensions in their small Virginia town boil over. When Yusuf suffers serious injuries from a mysterious fall, Yalda tries to determine who hurt him while facing her own insecurities. The inconsistent writing unfortunately distances readers from the unfolding narrative due to awkward transitions, segues that feel random, and pivotal plot points that are relayed after the fact. Yalda's personal growth and how the community unites against hate crimes would have benefitted from greater exploration. The twins' immediate family is nonreligious, and religious details are at times absent or presented in ways that may strike some readers as erasure. First-person narrator Yalda struggles with whether "the hyphen sometimes used in my label means a connection between two worlds or if one side is being taken away from the other and leaving me as something less than whole." This inner battle manifests in part in her unflattering judgment of her religious aunt and her perceptions of a refugee classmate, but the light character development may instead convey a message of assimilation. Introduces critical themes but struggles to address them with sufficient depth and nuance. (author's note) (Fiction. 13-18)

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May 15, 2024
Grades 8-11 After her brother pulls a prank that makes a lot of people angry and he has a mysteriously bad fall that renders him unconscious in the hospital, Yalda tries to determine whether Yusuf's fall was the result of being pushed and, if so, who did it. Her investigation sends her on a journey to uncover truths about people she both trusts and is suspicious of, often to surprising effect. Hashimi (Sparks like Stars, 2021) makes her young adult debut here as she returns to themes of immigration and first-generation citizenship from the perspective of Yalda's Afghan family. Themes of prejudice and its complexity are showcased through demonstrations of white American distrust of Afghans and Muslims, as well as Yalda's family's discomfort with a queer cousin. Yalda's many friends, acquaintances, and family members make for a large cast that helps obscure any potential perpetrator as she tries to secure justice for her brother and clarity for herself. Other themes include cultural and generational friction, suicide, and coming of age.

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August 9, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Yalda is thrilled to see her twin brother Yusuf's band perform at a local venue. However, when the opening band makes hateful remarks about the Afghan refugees in their town, Yusuf instinctively claps back, kickstarting an aggressive tension in their neighborhood. Soon after, Yusuf suffers a "mysterious" fall that hospitalizes him. Now, Yalda must wade through a frightened family, confusing friendships, and a town on edge to find her voice and discover what really happened to her brother. Hashimi's debut YA novel shines light on the reality of how prejudice and hate harm a community, though its mismatched narrative imperfectly delivers this message. The story has a solid premise with intriguing characters that drive a need for change in their divided town. The overarching theme of how some harm can't be undone, as hate breeds a disconnect from empathy and understanding, hits well as Yalda's family grieves Yusuf's hospitalization. However, Yalda's conflict with other characters falls flat at times; especially her unnecessary, fizzled-out romance with no lasting impact on the plot. This may be a result of some secondary characters lacking development, which consequently creates an unevenly paced storyline. Yalda's family is Afghan American. An author's note expands on refugees, prejudice, and hate crimes in America. VERDICT A promising story of the consequences of ignorance and hate that falls short of its great premise. A secondary purchase.-Emily Walker

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