From the Publisher
"A strong debut destined to become a classic.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Fresh, funny and authentic. Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year marks Hamza as a writer to watch." — BookPage (starred review)
“An affecting reflection on this boy’s tumultuous sixth-grade year.” — Booklist
“Compassionate and authentic. An emotionally perceptive book about grief, identity, and change.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Ahmed’s cheeky narration will fool no readers, as they witness the crumbling of his fake-it-’til-you-make-it wall of emotional self-defense.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Hamza writes with verve and a palpable fondness for her nuanced characters. Offers discerning lessons on reading, love, and adaptation." — Publishers Weekly
Booklist
An affecting reflection on this boy’s tumultuous sixth-grade year.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Ahmed’s cheeky narration will fool no readers, as they witness the crumbling of his fake-it-’til-you-make-it wall of emotional self-defense.
BookPage (starred review)
Fresh, funny and authentic. Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year marks Hamza as a writer to watch."
Booklist
An affecting reflection on this boy’s tumultuous sixth-grade year.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Ahmed’s cheeky narration will fool no readers, as they witness the crumbling of his fake-it-’til-you-make-it wall of emotional self-defense.
Kirkus Reviews
2021-04-27
Twelve-year-old Ahmed Aziz has never lived anywhere other than Hawaii, where everyone in his neighborhood knows everything about him.
When his Indian American Muslim family moves to his father’s hometown in Minnesota—one of three places in the world where his father can get the treatment he needs to recover from an inherited form of hepatitis C—Ahmed is anxious, heartbroken, and afraid. Things do not get off to a promising start. On Ahmed’s first day at his mostly White school, his neighbor Jack bullies him. Plus Ahmed is assigned to an accelerated section of language arts, a class taught by his father’s old friend Janet Gaardner—even though he hates to read. Ahmed’s homesickness only intensifies as he struggles to find a place among his peers and as his father’s illness worsens. However, he begins to find comfort in places he never expected, including in hearing memories of his uncle, who died at the age of 12 in the same hospital where Ahmed’s dad is now fighting for his life. Eventually Ahmed realizes that he is best loved and happiest when he is himself. This well-paced book tells a compassionate and authentic story about how families deal with intergenerational grief. The author seamlessly incorporates details of Ahmed’s heritage alongside his father’s Midwestern childhood, in the process accurately and unapologetically portraying Ahmed’s multifaceted identity.
An emotionally perceptive book about grief, identity, and change. (Fiction. 10-14)
