![The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain](https://islamicschoollibrarian.files.wordpress.com/2023/07/img_9079.jpg?w=113)
The Unlovable Alina Butt by Ambreen Butt-Hussain
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This middle grade book in many ways reads like a memoir, it isn’t, it is OWN voice fiction, but the chapters often come across like short stories with their own climax or punchline. The lacking continuity of smaller threads being resolved means if you put the book down, you aren’t necessarily itching to pick it back up to see what happens next. There isn’t a larger pressing conflict driving much of the book, yes the girl is bullied, but by one kid, and she has a great group of friends and a supportive family, so the intensity is just not present. I do like the growth of the character toward self-acceptance, but I don’t know that the target audience will get the 90s references of Spice Girls, CDs, lava lamps, and gel pens. The book hits most of the stereotypical immigrant tropes of feeling othered by one’s name, clothes, food, and while she works through them to deal with the bully and find her own confidence, she unfortunately never deals with her internalized Islamophobia, which is disappointing. She puts Islam on her parents as something they practice, and only begrudgingly seems to acknowledge she too is Muslim when she doesn’t eat pizza with non halal meat. She is embarrassed when her friends see Islamic calligraphy at her house, hear the athan, she doesn’t reply to her parents salaams, she calls her mother “the most devout in our family” as the reason she has to wear tights under her skirt: she only seems to ok with being Muslim when outsiders give their approval. The book for me is mediocre, nothing to rush out and buy, nor anything to pull from shelves. I’ll send my copy to the Islamic school library shelves as the book is fairly clean: a few giggles about naked statues at the museum and very lightly hinted at boy/girl crushes. The older sister deals with a boy who wants to date her and harasses her to the point of affecting her personality, but I think if a 10 or 11 year old picked up the book and read it, they would be ok to see the characters finding their voice, good friends, and sibling support.
SYNOPSIS:
Eleven year old Alina Butt is in her fourth school in three years since arriving in England from Pakistan. She never fits in, and never has friends, but she is determined that if she can keep her last name a secret, she might have a chance. One the third day of 6th grade though, her last name becomes known and Adam Atkins has his eyes set on giving her a hard time. With encouragement from her older sister and love from her baby brother, Alina puts herself out there to make friends and when the teacher assigns her a new group, she finds herself among three girls happy to welcome her in. The new group also puts her sitting across from Adam, but at least now she doesn’t have to face him alone.
At home, she navigates life as an immigrant trying to blend her worlds. Her loving family lives above the grocery store they own and face Islamophobia and settling in together as they each have to find their strength and voice and resilience to drive, stand up to harassment, and for Alina, to love herself. Alina gets the courage to try out for the school play, but when she lands the part of Gus in Cinderella, she has to dig deep to be happy for her friend, forgive a bully, and step in to the spotlight.
WHY I LIKE IT:
Alina is likeable enough, and I love that she grows to love herself too, I’m not sure she was ever unlovable though as the title suggests. I don’t like that potentially really big plot points are mentioned and then abandoned. She cuts her bangs way too short, her mom says something and no one else ever mentions it, and she never brings it up again. Her dad is so sick he leaves the truck on the side of the road and sleeps and the mom takes care of everything, and what was wrong with the dad is never revisited. These are just two examples of rising action that present that they are going to be important that are seemingly undermined by the lack of follow through.
I love that she finds a way to stand up to the bully and she even helps her sister deal with the boy antagonizing her. It is strong and resonates with the reader, but it should also be noted that as soon as she has friends, they are gossiping and being rude to Adam too. I’m not saying it isn’t warranted, and he definitely is worse, but if she is modeling behavior she should perhaps at least feel bad teasing him even before she knows that he has a bit of a rocky home life. Plus he is one kid with two stereotypical sidekicks, yeah he is annoying and mean, but she has friends and family and teachers that are completely on her side too. And Adam bullies her about her name, but no one else even acknowledges it or asks her about it.
I didn’t quite get the schooling, but it is probably because I am American. She is in middle school, but she has one teacher all day and they play on the soccer fields at break and her kg aged brother does field day with her? The 90s references were fine for me, but I don’t know that the target audience will get some of them, and it might be a little annoying to get through for younger readers.
Ultimately, the way Islam was presented was really disappointing. It feels like we should be past the internalized othering of our faith. The culture was worked through and appreciated internally for Alina, but for some reason, religion was only ok when the outside influences deemed it acceptable, and I’m not sure that in 2023 this angle of narrative is doing anyone any favors. She loves her mom, and part of the character arc is seeing and appreciating her mother’s strength, but very early on mom is labeled as “devout” even though they are all Muslim. And this self othering to be the reason her mom is keeping her from dressing like everyone else left a bitter taste in my mouth. Never once does it feel that Alina has a connection to Allah swt, no matter what she is going through there is no bismillah, or prayer, or dua to ask for help, and strength, or show appreciation. I absolutely get that not every story will have that, but the way Islam is presented as something foreign and never circled back on or portrayed as something that she embodies, makes all the mentions of faith seem deliberately othering, and as a Muslim book reviewer, I feel it is an important point to mention about this book. I wonder if it was intentional or an oversight sensitivity reading would have helped resolve.
FLAGS:
Birthdays, music, bullying, harassment, teasing, othering, mention of naked statues, some sneaking and dishonesty.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I wouldn’t use this as a book club selection, and as stated above I wouldn’t rush out to buy the book to shelve at home, in a class or school library, but if it found its way to the shelves I would not remove it. The book has heart, I just feel like along the way the messaging of finding your voice and putting yourself out there to make friends, the book also hints that the Quran on your walls, modesty, the athaan, eating halal, are all things that are weird, unless your friends think it is cool, then it is ok- and that is not messaging I would really want to spread.