American Fever by Dur e Aziz Amna
Published: 2022
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Content/Trigger Warnings: Islamophobia, strong language
Official Synopsis:
(from GoodReads.com)
On a year-long exchange program in rural Oregon, a Pakistani student, sixteen-year-old Hira, must swap Kashmiri chai for volleyball practice and try to understand why everyone around her seems to dislike Obama. A skeptically witty narrator, Hira finds herself stuck between worlds. The experience is memorable for reasons both good and bad; a first kiss, new friends, racism, Islamophobia, homesickness. Along the way Hira starts to feel increasingly unwell until she begins coughing up blood, and receives a diagnosis of tuberculosis, pushing her into quarantine and turning her newly established home away from home upside down.
American Fever is a compelling and laugh-out-loud funny novel about adolescence, family, otherness, religion, the push-and-pull of home. It marks the entrance on the international literary scene of the brilliant fresh voice of Dur e Aziz Amna.
Review:
This is a tricky review to write. There are some very meaningful aspects of American Fever; the narrator, who is in some ways probably derived from the author herself, is a complicated person. As a Pakistani raised in Islam, she describes going through different stages in her faith with two parents who have very different approaches to Islam but who ultimately support her choices. When Hira is chosen for a scholarship exchange program to live in the U.S. for one year, she clings to her muslim identity at first, insisting on fasting for Ramadan and eating a strict halal diet. Hira's host mother attempts to convince her that she does not "need" to adhere to these religious requirements and even attempts to convince Hira to try out different religions, believing that Islam is oppressive. While her host mother's attempts to convert her are not impressive, Hira reflects later on the ways that she emphasized her Pakistani identity to keep potential American friends at arm's length. I thought the complicated nature of Hira's journey was very worthwhile and definitely something that an American audience could benefit from reading.
At the same time, I picked up this book after reading a review of it in School Library Journal, and I had expected that it would be a young adult book. A mature young person or a young person who is somewhat familiar with the Middle East could still engage with this book, but the language was also very complex. A number of times, I read expressions and references that I didn't understand and I wonder even if a student from Pakistan would understand. One paragraph that I think exemplifies this well is on page 21: "The hijab was accruing some cachet at school. The sporty head girl wore it, and the Islamiyat teacher had taken to making us clap for every new hijabi in class. There were wider factors at play--the Farhat Hashmization of the new middle class, the commodification of trendy Islamic attire--but these weren't things my fourteen year-old mind could grapple with." It might just be that I am not the intended audience, but I would be interested to hear if the complicated rhetoric and language appeal to others.
I would still recommend this book to some. I have two students who are Yemeni and who love to read Islamic authors, even if the reading level is a little beyond their current understanding. I could see those students enjoying the text!
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