Review: Wanting Mor By Rukhsana Khan

Summary-

Jameela lives with her mother and father in Afghanistan. Despite the fact that there is no school in their poor, war-torn village, and though Jameela lives with a birth defect that has left her with a cleft lip, she feels relatively secure, sustained by her unwavering faith and the strength of her beloved mother, Mor. But when Mor suddenly dies, Jameela’s father impulsively decides to seek a new life in Kabul. Jameela, a devout Muslim, is appalled as her father succumbs to drink and drugs and then suddenly remarries, a situation that turns Jameela into a virtual slave to her demanding stepmother. When the stepmother discovers that Jameela is trying to learn to read, she urges her father to abandon the child in Kabul’s busy marketplace. Throughout it all, it is the memory of Mor that anchors her and in the end gives Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them into her life again.

( review from Amazon.com )

My Review- Wanting Mor is a story about one girl named Jameela's life living in a poor village in Afghanistan. In the beginning her mother has just died and her father is now in charge of her although he is not the best. he hardly acts like a father. I noticed that she often resorts to prayer throughout the book. When Jameela's father moves them to Kabul for better opportunities she is forced to leave everything behind, but the hardest for her is the grave of her mother. Kabul is nothing like she is used to. When they first arrive Jameela ends up working in a place where they think she is nothing but a stupid villager. When they get kicked out, her father marries a strange lady ultimately changing Jameela's life forever. She doesn't get along with her stepmother refusing to call her mother. she treats her like a maid. When Jameela's father abandons her in the market place, she has no were else to go put the orphanage. Their, Jameela starts school and she is engrossed in learning to read and wright.  When Jameela actually starts to adjust her stepmother starts bringing her stepbrother Masood by the orphanage to visit with Jameela's friend Soraya. Jameela goes unnoticed by her step family and father.  The end of the book is a complete shock and Jameela makes a huge decision about her life.

     The thing i like about this book is that is completely based on a true story. The author based it on a report she had read about children in crisis that was issued by Afghanistan department of orphanages.

     I also like that the author put a glossary for all the foreign words. in was a great help throughout the book.  Over all i really liked the book i loved how it was written and the fact that you could feel a connection to the main character Jameela.

Rating- A+