Words in the Dust

by Trent Reedy

Overview

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781010297
Publisher:	Lincoln, Frances Limited
Publication date:	09/06/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	442 KB
Age Range:	12 - 15 Years

About the Author

Trent Reedy is the author of Divided We Fall, Burning Nation, and The Last Full Measure, a trilogy about the second American Civil War; If You're Reading This; Stealing Air; and Words in the Dust, which was the winner of the Christopher Medal and an Al Roker's Book Club pick on the Today show. Trent and his family live near Spokane, Washington. Please visit his website at www.trentreedy.com.

Read an Excerpt

From the foreword by Katherine Paterson:

I'd been eager to read this book ever since Trent first told me he was going to try to write it. And he has done in Zulaikha exactly what I hoped he would do. He has given me an Afghan friend for whom I care so deeply I cannot read a news report without wondering how what has occurred is affecting her life... I am profoundly grateful for an introduction to a land and culture that are foreign to me through this beautiful and often heart-breaking tale of one strong and compassionate girl. She will live on in my heart and, I feel sure, the heart of every reader of this fine book.

Editorial Reviews

"I love this story — it leaves no doubt that hope and love speak the same language everywhere." — Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind"Both heart-wrenching and timely." — Kirkus Reviews"A beautifully written novel that introduces young readers to a fascinating culture." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"Readers will readily find themselves rooting for Zulaikha in this simply told yet thoughtful story." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

A contemporary 13-year-old Muslim teen's life changes profoundly when American forces arrive in her war-torn Afghanistan village. Born with a cleft palate, Zulaikha's tormented by boys calling her "donkey-face," adults averting their eyes and an insensitive stepmother. With marriage unlikely, Zulaikha secretly learns to read and write, emulating her birth mother, who was murdered by the Taliban for keeping books. As the Americans build a village school, Zulaikha's father wins a construction contract and arranges a marriage for her beloved sister with a wealthy older man. When the Americans fly her to Kandahar for successful reconstructive surgery, Zulaikha finally looks and feels normal until family tragedy strikes and she realizes "normal" isn't everything. Drawing from personal experiences in Afghanistan, Reedy creates a multidimensional heroine who introspectively reflects on how to "be patient enough to forget all the ugliness and focus on . . . good things" in an oppressive culture where women are undervalued. An inside look at an ordinary Afghanistan family trying to survive in extraordinary times, it is both heart-wrenching and timely. (pronunciation guide, glossary, author's note, notes on Persian poetry, recommended reading) (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews