Notable Book - Selected as a Notable Book by the Chrilren's Book Council 2007
Kathleen Mitchell Award for Excellence in Young Adult Writing 2008
Short listed for the Redbridge Book Award 2008, London
Kathleen Mitchell Award for Excellence in Young Adult Writing 2008
Short listed for the Redbridge Book Award 2008, London
Summary
This is the story of a 10th grade girl named Jamilah, but as her school knows her, Jamie. She is Lebanese Muslim but born in Australia. She struggles throughout the book on who to be, she feels culturally challenged to be all 3 identities. She dyes her hair and wears contacts and conceals her family life from her peers in order to achieve popularity status as one of the regular 'Anglos.' She is feeling the pressure and unsure if she can keep up the lies for long, until she starts talking to an email user who she can comfortably revel her true identity to. Her biggest fear is of people finding out how strict her dad is; he even has the rules hung up on the refrigerator. She is on the verge of popularity with the cutest boy in school, and she has to keep making excuses why she cannot hang out with them. Now she is scared her secret identity will be revealed and she will be ridiculed by her peers.
My Thoughts
I personally enjoyed this book because it took place in a country that is similar to ours but not the mainstream American culture. After reading the book I looked into the author and if it was written in blood; a concept by Sherman Alexie. He says he writes to relate to the readers, that he wishes he had had a book like his, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, when he had been growing up, and that literature can save people.The author herself is from Australia so she has been living in the culture and how people are. She herself is an Australian-born-Muslim-Palestinian-Egyptian, which is similar to the main character Jamilah. She even has a PhD in multicultural and racism in Australia, so she is very familiar with the topic. She goes around to school talking about the social justice issues that they raise. So to go off of that, she has definitely written this book in blood. If another student is being bullied about their identity this will give them literature to relate to them and make them feel identified with.
I think that this story can be very relatable to young girls and boys of the Middle Eastern culture who are being teased and taunted. The main character as well as the other characters of Middle Eastern descent, all have a struggle within the Australian Anglo culture. They are put down and stereotyped by the mainstream culture. According to the Blaska article, the literature should depict acceptance not ridicule. This is not the case, the other Middle Eastern kids at school are picked on everyday. They are assumed to be terrorists or to be containing bombs, that they should go back to their own country. This is where I don't think it could be a good idea to introduce into classrooms, giving them ideas as to how they could potentially act towards minorities. For example they call them Wogs of FOB (Fresh off the Boat), which could entice the students to now use those terms if they had never heard of them. Also, Jamie not being comfortable with her own culturally identity could show kids the consequences of embracing it in a harsh environment, instilling fear that they would turn out like the other Middle Eastern kids in Jamie's class. The only place she feels comfortable is at home or in madrasa (Arabic school). This book does not promote the "one of us" attitude, but instead the "one of them." Jamilah looks at the kids and thinks how they are the outsiders, not the mainstream. She longs to be both "one of them" like the popular kids, and yet "one of them" like the kids who can embrace their culture and not care what others think.
"Sometimes the Jamie in me aches to be a blue-eyes, blonde girl of Caucasian appearance. The yardstick against which all Australians are measured...The Jamilah in me longs to be respected for who she is, not tolerated and put up with like some bad odor or annoying houseguest" (9). She is not comfortable in her own skin, which is a feeling that many teenagers can feel as they are growing up in the awkward years of puberty, trying to find who they are. I don't like the emphasis they put on popularity, making it seem like the most important thing in the world. It's not just at school but also with Jamilah's father. He cares too much about what other people think of him and his children. There is so much worry about what other people think of you instead of loving oneself and being a strong person. There isn't an emphasis on that, which I found to be negative of the characters."I don't want her to pigeonhole me as a poor, pitiful, repressed Lebanese girl..But I know that I'm not a stereotype and I'll do everything in my power to protect myself from being seen as one, even if that means lying to my closest friend" (47-47). Jamilah is so worried about what others think, she doesn't even give them a chance. She also condones that lying is okay as long as you get what you want. The roles could be reversed and an Aussie could think that they are being pigeonholed by the Lebanese, so why shouldn't they pigeonhole them in return. It is like a two way street, treat people like you want to be treated. Jamilah should embrace herself, because there are people out there who are going to accept her and her lies won't grow bigger. Just like her email buddy John, her accepts who she is. She should use that as an example to be herself.
There is a lot of disobedience to the rules in the book, which could be negative for teenagers to read and think that it is okay, or even give them ideas. Like when Jamilah goes to the movies but her dad thinks that she is at Amy's house. Or when she lies constantly about how she has family things, or illnesses, to get out of plans. She thinks every time about which excuse she used last time and which one will be more believable or work better in the situation. She also experiments with drugs which she thinks is what will make her popular.
One positive is the insight into the culture. It is genuine. There are scenes in Arabic school, where instruments are played. There are parties where the food is prepared and the customs along with it are shown. This book does a good job of showing the life of a Lebanese-Muslim. The customs, styles, food, music, and culture are all show throughout the book, which makes it culturally relevant. There is also some introduction to the Australian culture. Although there are many negatives, the knowledge of culture is the most prominent positive.
I think that this story can be very relatable to young girls and boys of the Middle Eastern culture who are being teased and taunted. The main character as well as the other characters of Middle Eastern descent, all have a struggle within the Australian Anglo culture. They are put down and stereotyped by the mainstream culture. According to the Blaska article, the literature should depict acceptance not ridicule. This is not the case, the other Middle Eastern kids at school are picked on everyday. They are assumed to be terrorists or to be containing bombs, that they should go back to their own country. This is where I don't think it could be a good idea to introduce into classrooms, giving them ideas as to how they could potentially act towards minorities. For example they call them Wogs of FOB (Fresh off the Boat), which could entice the students to now use those terms if they had never heard of them. Also, Jamie not being comfortable with her own culturally identity could show kids the consequences of embracing it in a harsh environment, instilling fear that they would turn out like the other Middle Eastern kids in Jamie's class. The only place she feels comfortable is at home or in madrasa (Arabic school). This book does not promote the "one of us" attitude, but instead the "one of them." Jamilah looks at the kids and thinks how they are the outsiders, not the mainstream. She longs to be both "one of them" like the popular kids, and yet "one of them" like the kids who can embrace their culture and not care what others think.
"Sometimes the Jamie in me aches to be a blue-eyes, blonde girl of Caucasian appearance. The yardstick against which all Australians are measured...The Jamilah in me longs to be respected for who she is, not tolerated and put up with like some bad odor or annoying houseguest" (9). She is not comfortable in her own skin, which is a feeling that many teenagers can feel as they are growing up in the awkward years of puberty, trying to find who they are. I don't like the emphasis they put on popularity, making it seem like the most important thing in the world. It's not just at school but also with Jamilah's father. He cares too much about what other people think of him and his children. There is so much worry about what other people think of you instead of loving oneself and being a strong person. There isn't an emphasis on that, which I found to be negative of the characters."I don't want her to pigeonhole me as a poor, pitiful, repressed Lebanese girl..But I know that I'm not a stereotype and I'll do everything in my power to protect myself from being seen as one, even if that means lying to my closest friend" (47-47). Jamilah is so worried about what others think, she doesn't even give them a chance. She also condones that lying is okay as long as you get what you want. The roles could be reversed and an Aussie could think that they are being pigeonholed by the Lebanese, so why shouldn't they pigeonhole them in return. It is like a two way street, treat people like you want to be treated. Jamilah should embrace herself, because there are people out there who are going to accept her and her lies won't grow bigger. Just like her email buddy John, her accepts who she is. She should use that as an example to be herself.
There is a lot of disobedience to the rules in the book, which could be negative for teenagers to read and think that it is okay, or even give them ideas. Like when Jamilah goes to the movies but her dad thinks that she is at Amy's house. Or when she lies constantly about how she has family things, or illnesses, to get out of plans. She thinks every time about which excuse she used last time and which one will be more believable or work better in the situation. She also experiments with drugs which she thinks is what will make her popular.
One positive is the insight into the culture. It is genuine. There are scenes in Arabic school, where instruments are played. There are parties where the food is prepared and the customs along with it are shown. This book does a good job of showing the life of a Lebanese-Muslim. The customs, styles, food, music, and culture are all show throughout the book, which makes it culturally relevant. There is also some introduction to the Australian culture. Although there are many negatives, the knowledge of culture is the most prominent positive.
Review of The Book on TeenReads.com
Jamilah is leading a double life. At home she's a dutiful daughter, the "good girl" in her Lebanese Muslim family. Her older sister is a devoted Muslim --- she even wears the hijab in public --- but much to their widowed father's dismay, she has foregone college in favor of social and political activism. Her older brother parties, drinks and dates girls; he gets away with it because he's a boy. As for Jamilah, she's convinced that the only outings her father will let her go on are her weekly trips to madrasa, Arabic school. Jamilah loves madrasa --- she's the drummer for a talented Arabic band --- but she'd also really like to, say, go to a boy-girl party or even to her upcoming 10th grade formal dance. She knows he would never let her go, though, and she also knows that her friends from school would never understand his strictness.
That's because at school, Jamilah is known only as Jamie, and no one knows about her Lebanese heritage or her Muslim background. With her dyed-blonde hair and blue contact lenses, Jamie looks just as much like a "skip" as any Anglo kids in her school. Racism and ethnic prejudice run rampant at Jamie's Sydney, Australia, school, however, so, as Jamie explains, "I've hidden the fact that I'm of Lebanese-Muslim heritage from everybody at school to avoid people assuming I drive planes into buildings as a hobby."
Unfortunately, Jamie's crush, Peter, is one of the prime instigators of those kinds of racist taunts --- and because no one knows her real identity, she just has to sit idly by while the other Muslim kids take the verbal abuse of the "in group." When Jamie learns that Peter, one of the most popular and cutest boys in school, might just like her back, she's determined to find a way to go to the formal dance and keep her ethnic identity a secret from Peter.
But, as usual, fate has a way of intervening, and when Jamilah finds herself baring her soul --- both sides of it --- to an online correspondent known only as "John," she discovers the liberation of being truly honest about who she is and where she comes from. But can she translate that cyber-bravery into real-life honesty? And can she trust her true friends to stick by her true self?
Randa Abdel-Fattah's first book, DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS?, was widely praised for incorporating Muslim culture and identity into a "typical" young adult novel about a normal teenaged girl. In it, the heroine makes a decision to wear the hijab to her mainstream school as a gutsy declaration of her Muslim pride and identity. TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT ME has a somewhat less positive tone. In case you couldn't tell from the title --- which, despite its play on a popular movie title, manages to convey some real self-loathing --- Jamilah spends most of the book feeling down on herself, her family, even her choice of friends.
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT ME does raise important questions about trust and self-confidence, and it, like its predecessor, does a good job of showing that Muslim families live everywhere and share many of the same concerns as their non-Muslim counterparts. Jamilah questions her father and her Arabic school teacher about the contradictions she sees within Muslim culture, and she certainly asserts her own will against her oppressive father's. But she also appreciates, and eventually embraces, her religious and ethnic identity in a positive way.
BY NORAH PIEHL
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/ten-things-i-hate-about-me#
That's because at school, Jamilah is known only as Jamie, and no one knows about her Lebanese heritage or her Muslim background. With her dyed-blonde hair and blue contact lenses, Jamie looks just as much like a "skip" as any Anglo kids in her school. Racism and ethnic prejudice run rampant at Jamie's Sydney, Australia, school, however, so, as Jamie explains, "I've hidden the fact that I'm of Lebanese-Muslim heritage from everybody at school to avoid people assuming I drive planes into buildings as a hobby."
Unfortunately, Jamie's crush, Peter, is one of the prime instigators of those kinds of racist taunts --- and because no one knows her real identity, she just has to sit idly by while the other Muslim kids take the verbal abuse of the "in group." When Jamie learns that Peter, one of the most popular and cutest boys in school, might just like her back, she's determined to find a way to go to the formal dance and keep her ethnic identity a secret from Peter.
But, as usual, fate has a way of intervening, and when Jamilah finds herself baring her soul --- both sides of it --- to an online correspondent known only as "John," she discovers the liberation of being truly honest about who she is and where she comes from. But can she translate that cyber-bravery into real-life honesty? And can she trust her true friends to stick by her true self?
Randa Abdel-Fattah's first book, DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS?, was widely praised for incorporating Muslim culture and identity into a "typical" young adult novel about a normal teenaged girl. In it, the heroine makes a decision to wear the hijab to her mainstream school as a gutsy declaration of her Muslim pride and identity. TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT ME has a somewhat less positive tone. In case you couldn't tell from the title --- which, despite its play on a popular movie title, manages to convey some real self-loathing --- Jamilah spends most of the book feeling down on herself, her family, even her choice of friends.
TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT ME does raise important questions about trust and self-confidence, and it, like its predecessor, does a good job of showing that Muslim families live everywhere and share many of the same concerns as their non-Muslim counterparts. Jamilah questions her father and her Arabic school teacher about the contradictions she sees within Muslim culture, and she certainly asserts her own will against her oppressive father's. But she also appreciates, and eventually embraces, her religious and ethnic identity in a positive way.
BY NORAH PIEHL
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/ten-things-i-hate-about-me#
My Review of the Review
I agree with Piehl, that this book has a much less positive tone. It is about hating herself, which is not a positive self image for young adults to have. Especially compared to DOES MY HEAD LOOK BIG IN THIS? which has a more positive acceptance of loving your culture and identity, being comfortable in your own skin. Jamilah most definitely does not feel comfortable, and up until the end, she has to be told multiple times not to worry about what people think, and she finally takes their advice after being pushed, she still has second thoughts. I agree that she questions her father, and disobeys him many times, even though he is just trying to protect her. At the same time I think that Jamilah is relatable because many young adults feel victimized by their parents, that they are being strict or unfair. Jamilah forgets sometimes just how hard it is for him to raise three children all on his own. She likes and embraces her culture but only around those who are the same as her. She does tell us about how much she loves the food, and when her family comes over. We learn about the customs when someone dies, and how everyone brings food and keeps them company. It does show that Muslim families will face these difficulties in areas of the world, and it is not unrealistic. But at the same time, the fears that Jamilah feels could be a little bit extreme in thinking that no one at her school will accept her. There has to be people who will accept her.
Abdel-Fattah, R. (2006). Ten things i hate about me. New York: Orchard Books.