GOLDEN GIRL, by Reem Faruqi, HarperCollins, Feb. 22, 2022, Hardcover, $16.99 (ages 8-12)
A Pakistani American girl tries to help her family and gets in trouble in the process in Reem Faruqi’s Golden Girl.
Seventh-grader Aafiyah loves playing tennis, reading Weird but True facts, and hanging out with her best friend, Zaina. However, Aafiyah has a bad habit that troubles her — she’s drawn to pretty things and can’t help but occasionally “borrow” them.
But when her father is falsely accused of a crime he hasn’t committed and gets taken in by authorities, Aafiyah knows she needs to do something to help. When she brainstorms a way to bring her father back, she turns to her Weird but True facts and devises the perfect plan.
But what if her plan means giving in to her bad habit, the one she’s been trying to stop? Aafiyah wants to reunite her family but finds that maybe her plan isn’t so perfect after all. . . —Synopsis provided by HarperCollins
Golden Girl is a thought-provoking middle-grade novel in verse that makes readers think beyond their own situations and concerns while still feeling relevant to a large cross-section.
Author Reem Faruqi’s sparse prose allows the spaces and silent moments to speak for themselves. It allows the pacing to ebb and flow and provides the perfect framework for Aafiyah’s story.
Aafiyah is a compelling character with a compulsion that adds to her complexity. She’s strong and smart but at odds with her need to take things. It’s one of the best depictions of this I’ve read in a middle-grade novel.
Golden Girl is a fairly quick read that should resonate with a wide variety of middle readers.
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