Broken Moon
Kim AntieauBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
I WILL NEVER HAVE A HUSBAND, BUT I HAVE THE BEST BROTHER IN THE WORLD. YOUR BREATH ON MY CHEEK — ON MY SCAR — FELT LIKE THE BREATH OF ALLAH.
Nadira is spoiled goods. Scars from a beating she received for a crime that her older brother allegedly committed tell the world that she is worth less than nothing — except to her little brother, Umar, who sees beauty in her scars and value in her.
But Umar is gone — perhaps kidnapped or maybe sold. All Nadira knows is that Umar has been taken into the desert to ride camels for rich sheiks. He could be lost to her forever.
For Umar, Nadira will risk everything. So she disguises herself as a boy and searches out the men who took him. They are not hard to find, and soon she, too, is headed to the desert to be a camel jockey.
Life in the desert is more brutal than Nadira imagined. All she has to protect her and the boys she meets are a bit of chai tea, some stories, and the hope that she has enough of both to keep going until she finds Umar.
BROKEN MOON IS A SPELLBINDING, LYRICAL TALE THAT WILL CAPTURE READERS, HEARTS AND SOULS.
Synopsis
Nadira is spoiled goods. Scars from a beating she received for a crime that her older brother allegedly committed tell the world that she is worth less than nothing -- except to her little brother, Umar, who sees beauty in her scars and value in her.
But Umar is gone -- perhaps kidnapped or maybe sold. All Nadira knows is that Umar has been taken into the desert to ride camels for rich sheiks. He could be lost to her forever.
For Umar, Nadira will risk everything. So she disguises herself as a boy and searches out the men who took him. They are not hard to find, and soon she, too, is headed to the desert to be a camel jockey.
Life in the desert is more brutal than Nadira imagined. All she has to protect her and the boys she meets are a bit of chai tea, some stories, and the hope that she has enough of both to keep going until she finds Umar.
KLIATT
This story focuses on a girl's life in Pakistan and on the little-known practice by wealthy Bedouins of kidnapping children to race desert camels, forcing them to live in internment camps until they are too big or too dead to be of further use. The fact that the novel brings attention to their plight makes it valuable on a teacher or librarian's shelf. Other than that, the plot strains credulity in that it ends happily after an improbable series of events. Fourteen-year-old Nadira was the victim of an honor rape by a group of men taking revenge for her older brother's misconduct. Her father lost his business and died. Her older brothers fled. Her mother is reduced to depending on avaricious Uncle Rubel for handouts, and Nadira, knowing she can now never marry, works as a maid in a rich woman's house. When Rubel sells Nadira's younger brother Umar into camel-jockey slavery, Nadira cuts her hair, dons boy's attire and goes on a search-and-rescue mission. She discovers the violence, hopelessness, and exploitation that takes place in the camel camps. Being a hard-working girl, she soon organizes the younger boys into a more effective labor force and devises ingenious strategies for protecting the boys in her tent from older sexual predators. Fortuitously, Nadira also has a gift with animals, and soon her camel is running faster than anyone else's. Camel jockey stardom eventually brings its sweet rewards thanks to a kindly Sheikha's intervention. Although the story deals with brutal circumstances, the narration is not graphic and, in fact, the level of storytelling is suitable for a younger audience.
Editorials
KLIATT -
This story focuses on a girl's life in Pakistan and on the little-known practice by wealthy Bedouins of kidnapping children to race desert camels, forcing them to live in internment camps until they are too big or too dead to be of further use. The fact that the novel brings attention to their plight makes it valuable on a teacher or librarian's shelf. Other than that, the plot strains credulity in that it ends happily after an improbable series of events. Fourteen-year-old Nadira was the victim of an honor rape by a group of men taking revenge for her older brother's misconduct. Her father lost his business and died. Her older brothers fled. Her mother is reduced to depending on avaricious Uncle Rubel for handouts, and Nadira, knowing she can now never marry, works as a maid in a rich woman's house. When Rubel sells Nadira's younger brother Umar into camel-jockey slavery, Nadira cuts her hair, dons boy's attire and goes on a search-and-rescue mission. She discovers the violence, hopelessness, and exploitation that takes place in the camel camps. Being a hard-working girl, she soon organizes the younger boys into a more effective labor force and devises ingenious strategies for protecting the boys in her tent from older sexual predators. Fortuitously, Nadira also has a gift with animals, and soon her camel is running faster than anyone else's. Camel jockey stardom eventually brings its sweet rewards thanks to a kindly Sheikha's intervention. Although the story deals with brutal circumstances, the narration is not graphic and, in fact, the level of storytelling is suitable for a younger audience.Children's Literature -
Nadira works and assists the cook in the home of Begum Naseem and her husband, Tariq Saleem, in order to help supplement her family's income. Her mother and younger brother Umar must live in Uncle Rubel's home. Baba (the father) has passed away but left Nadira and Umar each a blank writing book with their names and a brief inspirational message inscribed by him. In the book, Nadira records her stories to share with Umar. She explains the scar that she received for a crime that her older brother Rahman was accused of committing. More importantly, she recounts her search for Umar, who is taken by the smugglers to the camel camps to ride in the Sheikh's camel races. Disguised as a boy, Nadira volunteers to be a camel jockey and must endure many hardships as she seeks to locate Umar. Nadira's deep compassion and love for her young brother play powerful themes in the story.School Library Journal
Gr 8 & Up - Scarred physically and psychologically by Pakistani traditionalists who avenged her brother's alleged assault on another girl by cutting his sister's face and body, Nadira accepts that she has been ruined. Now 18, she focuses her love on her 6-year-old brother, entertaining him with stories from "A Thousand and One Nights." Her father is dead and she works as a servant in a Karachi household to support Umar and their mother, who live with cruel Uncle Rubel. When he sells Umar to kidnappers who take children to the desert to become camel jockeys, she disguises herself as a boy to follow him. In the Bedouin country she tames young bullies as well as the fastest camel, hoping to be allowed to go to the races where she might encounter her brother and win their freedom. Nadira's forbearance and skillful storytelling make her sad situation bearable, and the romantically happy ending will satisfy readers caught up in her life. The first-person account is presented as a narrative written for Umar to read at some later date. Details of Nadira's daily life are smoothly woven in, but they are not the sort of thing-descriptions of clothing and the ingredients for masala chai, for example-that would ordinarily be emphasized by a sister writing to her brother. Although this is clearly an outsider's view of life in Pakistan and on the Arab peninsula, it may entice readers to explore that world further.-Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information