In the sincere and touching middle-grade novel Hail Mariam by Huda Al-Marashi (Grounded), a sixth-grade Muslim girl attempts to find her voice amid the complexities of familial relationships, personal responsibility, and faith.
Twelve-year-old Iraqi American Mariam Hassan will be the only Muslim at her new Catholic school. "If you are good," her father tells her, "the people will think good things about the Arabs and the Muslims." The pressure to represent an entire religion and culture is immense, and sitting underneath the "bony, bloody body" of Jesus doesn't ease the burden. Mariam feels like she "landed in a different country, with its own writing, customs, and clothing." But Mariam knows her roles: "teacher's sunshine" at school; eldest daughter and sister at home. When her younger sister, Salma, is diagnosed with a lung condition, Mariam tries even harder to be a perfect Muslim to lighten her family's load. In fact, Mariam is so busy trying to be perfect, she can't summon the courage to tell her parents she's been cast as Mary in the school Christmas play.
Al-Marashi explains in an author's note that, like Mariam, she also attended a Catholic middle school and wondered if she was "doing something wrong... looking at the crucifix in my classroom." Al-Marashi expertly captures the girl's stress as she tries to be what everyone wants, thus suppressing her own emotions and needs (like some gentleness from Mama). Mariam's anxieties and daily pressures are depicted with honesty and tenderness, and Al-Marashi skillfully incorporates Ramadan, cultural and religious practices, and Arabic phrases. An excellent read for fans of Andrea Beatriz Arango's Iveliz Explains It All and Shifa Saltagi Safadi's Kareem Between. --Hadeal Salamah, blogger, librarian, freelance reviewer