Colleen Nelson
Dundurn Press
I loved the way Sadia successfully learns to navigate her new Canadian home and the love of basketball with her Muslim culture and traditions. My favourite word I learned from this book was "dejabbing." I think this would be a great read aloud in grades 6+ as it would generate some questions and conversations around equity and justice.
I felt Colleen created a very believable and relatable character in Sadia and her friends. My students have really enjoyed reading this book as they loved the positive message! I appreciated the message that refugees arrive in Canada with different strengths and needs. We need to remember to meet all of our students in our class where they are and not where we think they should be. I suggest reading the memoir Homes by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung is a natural companion read to this novel. This Canada Reads finalist taught me more about the Syrian crisis.
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