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Hilarious multicultural novel...

The reviewer below would have us believe this novel is drenched with inappropriate sexual descriptions, but this is not the case. It's not any more inappropriate than similar novels men have been writing for centuries - Philip Roth, J.D. Salinger, Michael Chabon, etc. Finally here's a woman discussing the same topics, and this writer freaks out and says this somehow makes her too masculine? It's a coming-of-age story about a girl with a very unique cultural background-- she's half Palestinian and Egyptian, with a Christian grandmother and Muslim parents, an American passport, growing up in Kuwait at the time of the first Gulf War. The authorial presence is terrific, the narrator is hilarious, and readers will see how nuanced and complex Muslim families can be. Approach it with a little open-mindedness and try to learn something about how complicated, touching, funny, and messy growing up amid different worlds can be. Jarrar is a terrific writer, and I can't wait to read more from her.

By far the WORST book I have ever read in my life

This book is about macho women, that are more concerned with being "strong" than "good". I had to read this book for class, and am thoroughly discussed with it. It is about a girl growing up confused about how she is supposed to act. She constantly masturbates through out the book, and feels guilty about it, and wonders if shes going to hell, but that it feels so good, so in the end it doesn't matter. She is a virgin initially, but hates being a virgin because it is supposed to be a gift for men. So she throws herself on a penis in order to shed her self of a gift for men. She also has some serious issues, in which she talks about not wanting to be on the bottom while she masturbates in the tub. She likes being on top so she has the power and can dominate the bidet while she gets off. I thought this book was pretty trashy, and had numerous swear words per paragraph, and several sex scenes. She talks about how she enjoys thinking about, and would like to write about women cheating on their husbands in barrels. She also constantly writes papers in her story about rapes, which do nothing to add to the plot, she just throws them in randomly. The really bad thing about this book is that it is so tortuously boring, and has nothing clever. No twists, no excitement, no cool fight scenes, nothing, just a boring narrative of a girl growing up. Overall a terrible book, that is not creative in the slightest, and I wish I had never wasted my fifteen dollars on it.

Nice story

This story was funny and touching and I loved the main character, Nidali. However, there were a lot of arabic words and references, which I think most people would have a hard time following. Overall, pretty good.

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A Great Read.

An absolutely delightful book that takes you from Boston to Kuwait to Egypt and finally settles in Texas. The author weaves a very interesting tale of Nidali Ammar and her eccentric family. Nidali is a girl born to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother. Unlike many books that I have read about the Middle East, Nidali's parents do not want her to marry young rather her father stresses education almost above everything else. He wants her to be a famous professor who can hold her own against any man. Her father's ambition feels like he is trying to live vicariously through her and since her younger brother shows early on that he is not a book worm her father rationalizes his obsession. Her father, Waheed, was forced to leave Palestine because of a war and he moved to Egypt where he got his university degree in Architecture/Engineering. But it is clear that his chosen career would most likely have been different had he been able to grow up in his own country, free of the turmoil of war. With this in mind, he concerntrates his efforts on making his daughter into all that he wished he had been. The story of the meeting and courtship of Nidali's parents is in stark contrast to the present that Nidali and her brother are forced to inhabit. Her parents fight often and use choice langauge in private and in front of their children. Her father is physically violent both to his wife and children. Yet despite his volatile temper, you find it a bit hard to hate him, I certainly did not like him but I think that the way that the story is crafted makes you acknowledge his numerous faults without fully detesting him. Her mother is somewhat odd but is essentially a good and feisty soul who feels trapped by the situations she finds herself in. On Nidali's thirteenth birthday, Sadaam Hussein attacks Kuwait which is Nidali's residence at the time. She and her family are forced to flee to Egypt and eventually end up in Texas where he father finds a job. Again she trys to find where she fits in and school becomes her refuge as it had been all her life. But again her father will not let her be her own person and they fight over her choices. Its almost impossible not to love Nidali. She is such a lovely young lady. Her observations about life are sometimes rib achingly funny. But even in these moments of hilarity, one is gleaning a picture of her world. A world that is frought with loneliness, displacement, loss and the search for an identity that is independent of your parents and culture, whilst still loving one's parents and culture. This book is very reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and it articulates many similar themes. I could have done without some of the crass and vulgar language. Also reading about a thirteen year old masturbating was certainly not a highlight of my day. But all in all I would absolutely recommend this book.

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