By: Aisha Saeed
Copyright: 2018
Aisha Saeed is a New York Times best selling children’s literature writer. To me she defines the aspects of prompting change to young lives by being a founding member of the We Need Diverse Books organization. This organization’s mission is to increase the amount of books that are exposed to children to represent themselves within books they read. You can visit the website, https://diversebooks.org/ to look at specific blog posts about diverse children’s books and ways you can contribute to the successful mission of encouraging young readers to see themselves as characters. She is Pakistani American who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. With this cultural background, Aisha Saeed is representative and familiar with Pakistani culture and language, so her details in the locations and cultural aspects of familial structure, marriage celebrations, and marginalization of power is seen as being accurate and avoids stereotypes. Some other fun facts that I learned about the author from her website include:
-She likes to foster cats
-She speaks three languages fluently which include English, Urdu, and Punjabi
On the author’s website, she provides several approved lesson plans and teacher guides that help with teaching students the background information of this book, developing themes, character development, and vocabulary. This google presentation made by Samira Khan and is thoroughly detailed in developing engaging classroom discussions about developing background knowledge, analyzing characters and themes. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TPlGEx6RT1Ltd6EJEADmYdRlkT5gfSogBU3ad24cg5M/edit#slide=id.g35f391192_00
Looking at this presentation, it demonstrates ways that students can be involved in developing background knowledge in author (OwnVoice), setting, vocabulary, wonders, cultural connections, and literacy practice that are necessary to understand some aspects of the book. When first opening the presentation, I was in awe in how much detail was represented for an educator to help students develop critical thinking about the book, especially with the discussion questions and involvement of learning vocabulary. There is one thing that bothered me in the presentation which is the essential question that was marked before each week’s lessons. The essential question was, “What does it take to create change?” and then the challenge was, “Be the change.” To me, these two questions give away a lot of the essence of the message the author wanted readers to independently develop. To give away the main thematic concept so early reveals and I believe dismantles the future discussions students would have because they know what was needed to look for throughout the book. Along with this, I enjoyed some of the main components of literacy writing in internalizing a summary, conflicts, vocabulary, and theme activities, but it seemed too repetitive. I think allowing students freedom to demonstrate what they developed in their understanding after a certain number of chapters would be more beneficial for their future collaborations in discussions. I would focus more on students developing an emotional stance throughout the book in developing empathy for Amal and the other indentured servants, their family’s struggles, and character internal conflict. Along with this, I would include more problem posing questions for students to analyze the text more in depth to engage critical thinking.
Another resource to look at for prompting multimodal representations is: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10rsoQShQy2CSIRdVbyHS4ypJufnumngwsL4D9M_ME5s/edit
This interactive document directs students to connect to a real life brave girl, Malala, and her struggle in fighting for the right to gain an education as a girl in Pakistan as they read about in Amal Unbound. It also allows them to creatively express their comprehension in several ways including: word art, cube creator, or a newspaper article. Though these are great examples of examples of comprehension, it doesn’t necessarily push them deep enough to analyze the meaning from this novel. Most students with these resources would summarize with key words and not identify the essential goal of using this book to want to make a change.
This book was written in a way that make readers, including myself, uncertain to be able to take a break from reading. The continuous action based plot, injustice, questioning fairness and bravery throughout the book made me keep reading to want to know more. The main character Amal was exquisitely knowledgeable, brave, outspoken, motivated, and was a dreamer. The first thing that was brought to my attention that would develop classroom discussion is the idea of being a girl versus a boy. In the book specifically in the first couple of chapters, Aisha Saeed describes the culture of wanting a boy over a girl in a family to carry on the family traditions, work, and name. Since Amal’s mother had all girls, the concept of being the oldest sibling also brought increased responsibility in being the substitute caregiver of her younger siblings. This frustrated Amal throughout the beginning of the book because she described her “luckiness” in being the oldest in being treated unfairly, but yet she understood her role as an older sibling to care for her younger sisters wellbeing and education. I think a classroom discussion in having students describe their roles in their family as either a young, middle, or older sibling would bring empathy to what Amal had to do for her sisters. You could ask students if it was fair that her sister got to continue going to school while she had to stay home and miss school just to take care of her younger siblings.
Amal loved school, and being stereotyped that she is a girl and seen as not needing an education pushed her more to follow her dreams of being an educator. Her outspoken tendencies to address unfairness and injustice caused her to become an indentured servant to “pay” for her misbehavior. Having a discussion about indentured servitude would bring insight to the injustice of having to pay off your debts through labor. You could discuss how Amal’s servitude was compared to the others, especially that of Nabila. A discussion in how Nabila went to the Khan’s family’s estate at the same age of Fatima (9 years old) would make students discuss that if they were this age, how would they feel to be at this estate working at a young age away from family and school.
Amal had the most character development. She was fearful of making her voice and knowledge known, but she demonstrated the idea of bravery. She continually asked questions throughout the book that goes along with the strategy of comprehending theme through character’s questions. The way Aisha Saeed included these continuous questions made it seem that Amal was directly questioning young readers to question thematic concepts. I think she personally did this so that it could invoke the desire to want to make a change in their own lives. Her questions mainly focused on the concepts of injustice, fairness, fear, bravery, and dreams. Altogether these thematic concepts form one theme that I believe is: Young Characters That Defend Their Bravery for Change.
I chose this thematic statement mainly because of the amount of times throughout the book that Amal questioned her bravery over fear from others. I also designated the theme to portray female characters since this book explicitly address gender and class stereotypes and injustice in society. Her gender was consistently undermined and seen as not as worthy in having dreams and having a voice. Though this caused her to be separated, her defensive voice and direct questioning of those seen in higher power and class formed a power struggle. Without her in the estate as an indentured servant, I don’t believe her bravery that reflected on other servants would have empowered change in the book. Outside of the estate, even with the discussion of the built literacy center, there was a separation of trust and power between the upper class and lower class in society. It was obvious that the fear of living indebted to someone else led the lives of those that were in the lower class. This living reciprocated how those living in Amal’s neighborhood feared the Khan family and were unpressured to make a change because of fear of the power struggle and feeling incapable.
With this book and the picture books telling the stories of Malala and Iqbal, all of these books are great texts to incorporate strategies related to chapter five in, Reading to Make a Difference. In this chapter specifically, it talks about the importance in allowing students to make a deeper connection to the texts a teacher chooses related to making a difference. In this case, Amal Unbound and Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan/ Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan are perfect selections in recognizing social injustice, unfairness, gender stereotypes, and indentured servitude. Having students discuss any of these topics or something that resonated with them the most from the texts to enact a message or future plan in wanting to make a difference like the characters did. Since all the characters were young when they started to direct a difference on an issue in their lives, I believe it will also get students at their age involved and to believe they can make a difference! When coming up with a next “difference/change plan”, students should develop an audience they want to direct their message to first before starting their planning. Below are some websites that direct educators and their students to direct projects of making a difference in the world below:
With any one of these links, it can help organize a whole class plan, or small group plans in developing different projects related to making a change. In this case, it would be interesting to have students want to make a difference related to Amal, Malala, and Iqbal’s message!
What would Amal, Malala, and Iqbal want us to do?
References
Saeed, A. (2018). Amal Unbound. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.
Laminack, L., & Kelly, K. Reading to make a difference. Heinemann, pp. 83-97.