Michael Thuo

Rachel Krumholz reviewed a book.

“Imagine a cold, dark night. The air is chili and dry and all of your family is stiff, wishing they weren’t in this situation. You are trying to escape from Kabul, Afghanistan and make your way to California because of the strict Taliban, taunting you, your every step. Seems harsh huh? Well, this...”

“ Imagine a cold, dark night. The air is chili and dry and all of your family is stiff, wishing they weren’t in this situation. You are trying to escape from Kabul, Afghanistan and make your way to California because of the strict Taliban, taunting you, your every step. Seems harsh huh? Well, this is what Fadi and his family is going through, but with an unexpected catastrophe… While trying to escape on the escape truck, Mariam, (Fadi’s younger sister and who he is suppose to be in charge of that night,) drops her Barbie. Because of her love for the doll, she tries to go after her. Fadi, unaware, drops Mariam and the truck drives away. Mariam is now all alone in Afghanistan because her family’s only choice is to go on to California. In California, Fadi feels as much guilt as a person can live with, and all of his family can get as much information as they can get about Mariam. Also, Fadi enters a photography competition hoping to win the grand prize of two tickets to India, so he can go and find Mariam. Even though Fadi does not win, Mariam is found! While at the display of the winning photos from the competition, Fadi looks at one of the pictures a judge took. He can’t believe his eyes because Mariam is in it! With this photo, Mariam is tracked down then sent to her family in California. The whole family reunites and all are happy!
I really surprised myself by liking this book. I didn’t think I would enjoy Shooting Kabul because I’m not really interested in the Middle East. I especially liked the part where Fadi and some of his friends who are also targets of Ike and Felix, threaten Ike and Felix because they were fed up with getting bullied then throw them into the lake. This book was kind of confusing in the beginning because of all the flashbacks, but towards the end it became clearer. Another thing I liked about this book was that it was the right level of reading for me. It was sometimes challenging, but it wasn’t too hard or too easy to read. The ending of the book was a little predictable. I knew Mariam was going to be found because if she wasn’t, the book would probably end sad and just bad in general, but I did like the ending. Mariam being lost reminds me of the tie I was lost…in the ocean. I was literally washed away by the wave and carried into the ocean and I felt like I was so far away from my family just like Mariam. (Even though I actually was only a couple yards into the water.)
I would definitely recommend this book to another student because it is very entertaining and it’s interesting to hear what Fadi does to try to find Mariam. I would rate this book a 7 out of 10 because although it was entertaining, at times it felt kind of slow, like when Fadi and his family were arriving in California.
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leahsmiley519 reviewed a book.

“Shabanu takes place in the Cholistan desert in Pakistan over around two years. The main character is an eleven year old girl named Shabanu. She lives with her sister, Phulan, and her mother, father, grandfather, aunt and cousins. Shabanu is a lucky girl. She has more freedom then most other...”

“Shabanu takes place in the Cholistan desert in Pakistan over around two years. The main character is an eleven year old girl named Shabanu. She lives with her sister, Phulan, and her mother, father, grandfather, aunt and cousins. Shabanu is a lucky girl. She has more freedom then most other Pakistani women. When Phulan's fiance dies, everything switches. Phulan marries Shabanu's fiance and Shabanu marries a fifty-five year old man named Rahim. Rahim will make Shabanu his sex slave. More and more terrible things happens. Bravery and courage are shown throughout the book.

At the beginning of Shabanu, it is very slow and a bit boring. But if you stick with it, Shabanu gets very interesting. It was confusing during the fight scene with the camels. I thought this book was believable because all of the events were reasonable. At times, the book was hard because they had lots of foreign words. Fortunately, in the back of Shabanu they have a glossary!

I would recommend Shabanu to mature middle schoolers because there are some inappropriate parts. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give Shabanu a 7 because of the slow beginning. Especially, I did not like, as I mentioned before, the camel fighting scene because it was very confusing.”

isaac h reviewed a book.

“The setting of this story is in Afghanistan at night is when the main part of the story. the main characters are Fadi, Habid the dad, Mariam the sister and Noor the other sister. when fadi and his family had to leave kabul because of all the things the taliban were doing to the people so they...”

“The setting of this story is in Afghanistan at night is when the main part of the story. the main characters are Fadi, Habid the dad, Mariam the sister and Noor the other sister. when fadi and his family had to leave kabul because of all the things the taliban were doing to the people so they decided to catch the truck that comes to u.s.a but when fadi and his family were getting on the truck a rush of people came and fadi was holding his sister but hher hand slipped when she was grabbing her bear. and he lost her so after that in the story fadi was blaming his self after fadi and his teacher went to a muesam and meat a man who was rich he found sa picture of fadi and his family and asked where is that girl and he said he lost her so he donated money for ”

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• Rated 4 stars

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Purplepanda reviewed a book.

“SUMMARY
Shabanu is a girl who lives in the Cholistan Desert, Pakistan. She and her sister, Phulan are getting married to their far cousins, Humir and Murad. Shabanu is worried and happy, because she likes Murad but doesn't want to leave her parents and their camels. Finally when the it is...”

“SUMMARY
Shabanu is a girl who lives in the Cholistan Desert, Pakistan. She and her sister, Phulan are getting married to their far cousins, Humir and Murad. Shabanu is worried and happy, because she likes Murad but doesn't want to leave her parents and their camels. Finally when the it is time for Phulan's wedding, Humir gets killed. Everything is rearranged, Phulan is arranged to Murad and Shabanu is arranged to marry a 55 year old man who already has 3 wives and a couple children. Shabanu runs away to live with her aunt Sharma but ends up stuck in the desert where her father eventually finds her, beats her for running away, and then cries.
OPINION
I liked this book because it is possible. It could happen and it is a problem today. This book confused me a bit because I didn't understand some of the pakistani words. Luckily there was a glossary in the back. It wasn't that hard to read but it wasn't' that easy. I didn't like the ending because it just left you in the middle of nowhere. My favorite part of the book was the part where she is in the market buying scarves for Phulan's wedding. This book reminds me of a movie I saw called Girl Rising. Girl Rising is a bunch of stories from real girls that live all around the world. In one story a girl got married at 9 and was a mother at 11!
RECOMMENDATION
I would recommend this book to girls because there are some topics that boys would not understand. I would give this book a 7 out of 10 because there were some topics that made me a little bit uncomfortable but I liked the characters. Also the plot was cool, although it was slow moving in the beginning.”

Jenny reviewed a book.

““ A Stone In My Hand” takes place in Palestine. The main character in the book is a girl named Malaak. Malaak gets along very well with a bird named Abdo. The conflict that Malaak has is that her father got bombed and he dies. When Malaak finds out her father is dead she gets really sad and...”

“ “ A Stone In My Hand” takes place in Palestine. The main character in the book is a girl named Malaak. Malaak gets along very well with a bird named Abdo. The conflict that Malaak has is that her father got bombed and he dies. When Malaak finds out her father is dead she gets really sad and doesn’t really talk to her mother or brothers. Malaak spends most of her time on the roof with the bird abdo. What happens up until the climax is that malaaks brother is interested in violence.in the ending of the book malaaks brother goes into a comma, but he survives. Malaak did not really solve her problem, because she still misses her father and she was still really sad. The theme of this book “A Stone In My Hand” is violence.
I liked the book a lot, because it was sad at times and I love sad books because they are more interesting to me. The book “A Stone In My Hand” was easy to understand, and it was not hard to read at all. The book “A Stone In My Hand” is believable. I liked the ending, because it was really sad and I got into it a lot. My favorite part of the book was when Hammid was putting rocks on the stairs to throw the rocks at the soldiers. I liked that part, because it got really interesting and intense. The connection that I made with another book was about a boy who was really attached to his mom and his mom dies and the boy was really sad throughout the whole book.
Yes I will recommend this book to another student. The rate for this book from 1 to 10 would be 10, because it was really sad at times it also got really intense.
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Nivlac reviewed a book.

“This book takes place in Palestine. The main characters are Karim, Joni and Hopper. The problem is that Karim and his family can't go outside because their are curfews. First Karim school gets bombed, then his family goes to Karim's grandmothers house and someone threatens to shoot them, so they...”

“This book takes place in Palestine. The main characters are Karim, Joni and Hopper. The problem is that Karim and his family can't go outside because their are curfews. First Karim school gets bombed, then his family goes to Karim's grandmothers house and someone threatens to shoot them, so they go back home. Then Karim meets Hopper. He and Joni go to Hopper's ground, they play. Then soldiers come and shoot Karim. Karim didn't really solve the problem. The theme of this book might be never give up because Karim didn’t give up when he got shot in the leg.
I liked when Karim, Joni and Hopper played soccer because it really explained how they played. The book was a little confusing when I thought that Jamal got shot, but he really hit his head on an air conditioner. The book wasn’t too easy or too hard. It was a little predictable that Karim was going to get shot, but the rest wasn’t predictable. I didn’t like the ending because I thought it was a cliffhanger. My favorite part was when Karim had to hide in the car for a few days because it explained what he did for the time. I made a text to self connection when Karim scored a goal playing soccer and was really happy because I’m happy when I score a goal. I would recommend this book to kids who like soccer and to boys especially. I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. I rated this book 9 out of 10 because it was a really good book but it could have been explained a little more like when the guy threatened to shoot Karim and his family. It says in the book “The rooms smelled of new concrete and fresh putty, and a layer of dust and grit had settled over everything.” That is very explained, so I like it.
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Teagan the volleyball player reviewed a book.

“The main charcter name is Fadi. He and his family lives in Afghanistan and they run away from Afghanistan. But while trying to get on a moving truck that would take them acroses the border to Peshawar”

XXPEWDS_LEILA_58XX reviewed a book.

“Shabanu takes place in the Cholistan desert in pakistan. Shabanu lives with her mom, dad, sister, aunt, cousins, and grandfather. The conflict is that Phulan's wedding plans get ruined, and Shabanu is forced to marry a 55 year old. before the climax, shabanu's grandpa dies, and they sell their...”

“Shabanu takes place in the Cholistan desert in pakistan. Shabanu lives with her mom, dad, sister, aunt, cousins, and grandfather. The conflict is that Phulan's wedding plans get ruined, and Shabanu is forced to marry a 55 year old. before the climax, shabanu's grandpa dies, and they sell their camels. In the climax of this story, Hamir, the man who Phulan is supposed to get married to dies, and then Phulan takes Shabanu's wife, and then Shabanu is sold to a 55 year old rapist. In the ending of the book Phulan get married happily, and Shabanu runs away to go live with her aunt, because she doesn't want to become a sex slave. But then, her camel breaks a leg, and her dad finds her, and beats her. Also, I think the main idea of this book is, child marriage, and life of desert families in pakistan.
I actually liked this book. i thought it was good, because”

E-town_baseball528 reviewed a book.

“The Breadwinner is about a girl living in Afghanistan with her family. The girl's name is Parvana. Parvana and her family live in a one room house, life is going better than most people's in Afghanistan. The Taliban then bust into Parvana's house and take her father to prison. Parvana must dress...”

“The Breadwinner is about a girl living in Afghanistan with her family. The girl's name is Parvana. Parvana and her family live in a one room house, life is going better than most people's in Afghanistan. The Taliban then bust into Parvana's house and take her father to prison. Parvana must dress up like a boy, so she can sell things in the market. When she runs into her friend from school, they end up selling things together. When Parvana's sister Nooria gets married, and Parvana stays back at the house while Nooria and her Mother move away. Father is returned home, but things aren't all happy. Parvana and her father find out that where Nooria and Mother moved has been taken over the Taliban, then know they must travel and find them.

I thought that for the most part the book was very enjoyable. Some parts of the book were very boring, like parts when Parvana and her family are trying to fall asleep. Some parts were very exciting though. One of the most action packed parts of the book is when a man gets his arm cut off by the Taliban. I thought that the ending was very emotional, and it was a good way to end the book. One connection I could make was between Shooting Kabul and The Breadwinner. In The Breadwinner, someone gets taken by the Taliban and they try to find him, and in Shooting Kabul the girl gets lost and they must find her.

I would give this book a 8/10. I thought that the book was good in some parts but other parts were very slow. When the father gets captured by the Taliban, it is chaotic, and it is probably one of the best parts of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books about war, and history. Also I would recommend it to kids that are 10 years old and up, just because it has some parts that are more adult themed. Overall, it was a good book and most people would enjoy it.
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leahsmiley519 rated a book.

• Rated 3 stars

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Audrey reviewed a book.

“In the city of Kabul Fadi and his family are trying to escape from Afghanistan because the Taliban have taken control and their mom (Zafoona) is sick. As they are boarding the truck Fadi lets go of his younger sister Mariam and leaves her in Afghanistan. The family without Mariam go to California...”

“In the city of Kabul Fadi and his family are trying to escape from Afghanistan because the Taliban have taken control and their mom (Zafoona) is sick. As they are boarding the truck Fadi lets go of his younger sister Mariam and leaves her in Afghanistan. The family without Mariam go to California to live with their relatives. The family is so sad that Mariam is lost and try to find ways to get her back. As they do this they all live with the guilt of losing Mariam which starts to consume Fadi. At his school Fadi has many troubles with some other boys, while his family is having money troubles. Finally there is a photo contest at Fadi's school where if he wins, he can win a trip that can bring Mariam back. He tries to find the perfect picture but he does not win. Though as he looks at one of the judges pictures he spots Mariam and they are able to track her down and bring her back home.

I liked the book, but in some parts in got a little to slow. I liked though that it wasn't that predictable and had a lot of twists. I really liked the ending because it keeps you wondering, though there is a epilogue which helps sum it all up. I think my favorite part was the ending. I have felt guilty in my life just like Fadi and I have read other books that have dealt with the Taliban.

i would recommend this book to another student because it has a good ending and a good plot line. I would rate this book a 6/10 or a 7/10 because in some parts it got really boring, but otherwise it was good.”