I have some mixed feelings on certain aspects of this book, but overall, I enjoyed my time reading it!



I was really anticipating reading Does My Head Look Big In This? after being recommended to me as a great book with a Muslim protagonist. I have to say, hearing about Amal's faith was by far my favorite part of the novel! I get so happy watching others speak about things they are passionate about, and Amal's dedication to her religion was absolutely wonderful to read about! It's very rare we f

I have some mixed feelings on certain aspects of this book, but overall, I enjoyed my time reading it!



I was really anticipating reading Does My Head Look Big In This? after being recommended to me as a great book with a Muslim protagonist. I have to say, hearing about Amal's faith was by far my favorite part of the novel! I get so happy watching others speak about things they are passionate about, and Amal's dedication to her religion was absolutely wonderful to read about! It's very rare we find YA protagonists that are open about practicing their faith so this book was unbelievably refreshing. Amal's response to prejudice and discrimination while never backing down from her beliefs was honestly inspiring and I feel so many teens would be impacted by her story! I think my favorite quote of the novel was near the end where Amal says, "Putting on the hijab isn’t the end of the journey. It’s just the beginning of it." (I literally got chills) Amal was the first Muslim protagonist I've read about and I was not disappointed. I would read so many more books about her if it meant experiencing her story!



Another great aspect of this book is that within Amal's group of close family friends who happen to also either be Muslim and/or Arab, there were so many different experiences to read about! Amal has Muslim friends that choose to wear the hijab full time, and others that don't. There are people who are deeply involved with their faith and others who reject their culture in favor of conforming to Australian norms. I thought the expression of different Muslim experiences was really well rounded and it made for a satisfying reading experience. I think I took away so much more because we had so many different individuals to learn about!



I also really loved how supportive virtually all the people in Amal's life are of her decision to wear the hijab! Are there bullies who are definitely Islamophobic? Yes (so be cautious of expressions of prejudice if you're interested in reading this novel) but there are SO MANY positive reactions to Amal's faith! Her principal is accepting, her friends and classmates are excited to learn about her religion and the practices of her faith. For the most part, they don't judge her like she is fearing but show true interest in brocading their horizons. Despite the fact that Amal does encounter some discrimination throughout the course of the story, I was so happy to see so much positivity for the majority of the novel.



Another minor piece of the story I enjoyed was learning about Amal's neighbor who is an elderly Greek woman. I really loved seeing their relationship grow, it was something special and unique. What I loved most though, was hearing her story of immigrating to Australia. It was very powerful and something I found to be very valuable! (TW for miscarriages in this particular scene) but overall, it was a surprise to enjoy a minor character so much. Definitely a fabulous character addition!



That being said, there were a few things I was not a huge fan of. Primarily, the writing was not the best. It's not "bad" per say, but I definitely found myself picking at the parts that irked me more than I l like to while reading. I also felt the dialogue made the characters seem younger (13-14ish) compared to their actual ages (17). I want to be clear in saying I have considered the fact that "maturity" is a western concept and how I feel a 17 year old acts like may very well be different from what a 17 year old who has grown up in a Palestinian household is ACTUALLY like. I've definitely kept that in mind, but it was consistent with all the characters in the book, regardless of their background. They use phrases and react in ways I find more often in middle grade books (and in my personal experience in the junior high years) which made it hard to not be a little exasperated at times. (Another factor could also be that the author is Palestinian/Egyptian herself which may account for differences as well!!) Then again, this also was not a book written for me, it was written for teens so take this critique as lightly as you'd like; I'm just stating my personal reading experience. The perceived immaturity & underdeveloped writing were two aspects of the book I really didn't enjoy, but it didn't impact my enjoyment that harshly.



The final thing I disliked about DMHLBIT is the portrayal of body image. One of Amal's best friends is extremely unhappy with her body which leads to a lot of problematic phrases and actions throughout the story. I don't think there is a scene she is in where she does not mention her issues with body image and weight loss which made it feel like this character had no development OTHER than her self image issues (which I find to be a problem). So often, phrases are thrown around so carelessly like "I WISH I could be anorexic" or "I've tried the bulimia THING" (hearing someone call a life-threatening eating disorder a "thing" as if it's a diet or choice boiled my blood, let me tell you). I found this to be horrendously insensitive and harmful to people who may struggle with their own body image or live with eating disorders; It really trivialized these issues in my opinion and made them seem so much less important than they are. When this character is fat-shamed by bullies, Amal and her friends respond by skinny shaming, making further derogatory comments that were equally as bad in my opinion. (Wouldn't it have been so much more productive to lift up your friend and standing against body-shaming than putting down another's body?) She also takes to unhealthy habits to propel her weight loss that could further put her in danger and they are never discussed as being unhealthy. It's a case of "it's my body I'll do what I want" and it's NEVER challenged. And at the end of the book, *spoilers* she's still unhappy with herself! The negative actions are never addressed, there is no story arc of accepting yourself, she's still trying diets in the last chapter, which makes it feel like all this harm was for nothing. I really really despised this portion of the book. If they had cut this character's really insensitive plot line, I probably would have given this book 4 or 4.5 stars but it was the detrimental to my reading experience.



The reason I picked up DMHLBIT was to experience the story of a Muslim teen, and that's what I got. I was really really satisfied with what I entered this book looking for and that's the most important thing to me!