Nessuno Sceglie Il Mio Destino (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Highly Recommended [return][return]Nazia is fourteen years old and her family is fairly well off in Karachi, Pakistan. He father supports the family and Nazia attends school and is getting ready for an arranged marriage. When Nazia’s father get hurt and can no longer support the family, Nazia and her mother start cleaning houses for the rich. It is a secret because Nazia would be unmarriageable with her fall from status. Another blow to Nazia happens when her older brother steals the dowry intended for her marriage and she has to rewrite her future. Nazia gets an offer from Ms. Haroon to come stay with her and Nazia agrees.[return][return]This is the author’s debut novel and is well written. She won several writing/author prizes for this book, when it was published in 2008. There are not many YA novels written by Pakistani-American women, so I think this would make a good school library addition for cultural diversity. I have a difficult time reading about girls who have no say in their life. They go to school with the eventual outcome being marriage; a marriage that the family has to pay dearly for. Reading about cultures where the females are a burden is not at the top of my list. I like that this story has a strong female character, trying to make a good life for herself. I like that she gets to make her own path in life. The reader is left with a feeling of empowerment. [return][return]I think this would be a good book for our World Studies teachers to promote Islamic culture or modern day life in Pakistan. I have a lot of books written by Indian-American women authors in my library and this might be my first Pakistani-American author. We have a large community of Muslim girls, so I think some of them would enjoy reading this book. None of the content is objectionable, so it would appeal to conservative readers. I will also share this book with our 10th grade literature teachers as they have a novel of choice assignment for immigrant American authors. We also have a Pakistani Student Association that might be interested in this book, so I will post it on their Moodle page. I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were developed really well and thoroughly. Nazia, the protagonist is living in Pakistan with her mother, father, and two siblings. Being fourteen years old, Nazia is going to get married soon but on one fortunate day all her dowry is stolen and her troubles begin. Nazia is pulled out of school to work with her mother cleaning houses to gain back her dowry. She meets a new friend and gets through many ups and downs before she finally comes up with a plan at the end. At the beginning it was a bit slow, but as more and more problems occurred it got more intriguing and by the end I had a connection with Nazia and the rest of the characters in the book.
What do You think about Nessuno Sceglie Il Mio Destino (2010)?
I did two book reports on tis book. I liked it a lot. Sometimes hard to understand. Nice wirtting.
—Kaleb
Beautifully written. Captivating characters. Hard to put down - I read it in one night.
—rabiaahmed
Excellent socials tudies read aloud for fourth and fifht graders.
—Ana
Rather a depressing book, for Muslim Voices grant.
—TomatoLover
