Beneath My Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar
Our lives will always be in the hands of our mothers, whether we like it or not. Nazia doesn't mind when her friends tease and call her a good beti, a dutiful daughter. Growing up in a working-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia knows that obedience is the least she can give to her mother, who has spent years saving and preparing for her dowry. But every daughter must grow up, and for fourteen-year-old Nazia that day arrives suddenly when her father gets into an accident at work, and her family finds themselves without money for rent or food. Being the beti that she is, Nazia drops out of school to help her mother clean houses, all the while wondering when she managed to lose control of her life that had been full of friends and school. Working as a maid is a shameful obligation that could be detrimental to her future - after all, no one wants a housekeeper for a daughter-in-law. As Nazia finds herself growing up much too quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more liberating than she ever imagined. Editorial Reviews Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Most young girls dream of growing up, meeting Prince Charming, and living happily ever after. But 14-year-old Nazia's future in Pakistan was predetermined, and dreaming is a luxury she can ill afford. She will marry her cousin Salman, live in his family home, and be an obedient wife. The most she can hope for is a loving husband and a kind mother-in-law. Until her dowry is complete, she's focused on doing well in school. But in life, things don't always go as planned. Nazia's father is injured at work, and her older brother disappears. The next thing she knows, she's yanked out of school and forced to clean the houses of the more privileged alongside her mother to put food on the table. With her father's increasing disinterest in working, her family quickly loses the humble surroundings they call home. Incensed, Nazia can hardly believe the nightmare her life has become: the father she loved has all but abandoned them, and her mother is a shadow of her former self. For the first time, Nazia begins to think about life in terms of choices, and to question the path chosen for her. As she wrestles with the obligation to do what is expected of her, and with her own desires, she hatches a plan -- and a kernel of hope for her own future begins to take hold. (Fall 2008 Selection) - Gr 7-10- After her father's work injury and her older brother's disappearance, 14-year-old Nazia is pulled from school to join her mother for exhausting and humiliating work cleaning houses in modern-day Karachi. This change of status jeopardizes the girl's arranged marriage with her cousin back in their native village. Reminded by her mother of the Prophet Muhammad's words, All children know that the gates of heaven lie beneath their mother's feet, Nazia is torn between her wish for further education and her need to be a dutiful daughter. Happily, what seems a terrible disgrace eventually frees her for more satisfying possibilities. Along the way, she comes to realize that her mother rightly characterizes the beloved men in her family as unreliable and dishonest, and she helps a boy essentially sold into servitude by his mother to escape; these story threads are not always smoothly woven into the narrative. Nazia's story is told in a limited third person but occasionally the author's voice breaks through, explaining her thinking for American readers. This first novel by a Muslim Indian-American provides a fascinating glimpse into a world remarkably distant from that of most American teens, and would be an excellent suggestion for readers who want to know about how other young people live.-Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD - School Library Journal Fourteen-year-old Nazia is a good Muslim girl. She lives in Karachi and keeps busy attending school, helping with her younger siblings and preparing for an arranged marriage, when her father is injured. Nazia doesn't know it at first, but everything in her life has changed. First, she leaves school to work as a maid with her mother, which is kept secret, since this would make her unsuitable for marriage. Then the unthinkable happens: Nazia's dowry is stolen. Her father remains unemployed while his wife and daughter work, and as his behavior becomes more unpredictable, Nazia and her mother realize they must assume responsibility for the family. Nazia's hopes for the future are dashed. But when she is offered the opportunity to marry a man who will rule over her, she must decide exactly what she is willing to sacrifice. Reminiscent of Suzanne Fisher Staples's Shabanu (1989), this beautifully written depiction of life in modern Pakistan offers readers a painful and stirring view of a girl with limited choices but great inner strength. (Fiction. 12 & up) - Kirkus Reviews
Publication Details
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Binding: Hardcover
Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers: , 2009
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ISBN: 9781416947288 | 1416947280
208 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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