Amal Unbound
There it was again, my father’s words: Life isn’t fair. Maybe it was true, but why was that a reason to just accept everything and go along with it? I hoped the rumor about the girl turning down Jawad Sahib was true. I hoped there was really was someone out there who had the courage to stand up to him and say no.”
-Amal, Amal Unbound
There is no denying that this is an important book to have on every classroom bookshelf. There is also no denying that the world is a better place because of books like this. I want my readers to know this book to empower them to live a better life. All Amal did was say, ‘No.’ However, I think our generation devalues the worth of the word ‘No.’ Why can’t we stand up for what we believe in? What we find worthy of rejection? What we find worthy of praise?
This is the sort of book I want more people (especially school aged children) to read and understand. I want more of the population to understand how essential education is in everybody’s life. I want us to stop taking education for granted. It’s so easy to look at the calendar and think “only 8 more months till graduation.” But why do we want to rush through something so valuable and rare?
In Amal Unbound, real life topics like post-partum depression, and economic class differences. With three younger sisters, it is Amal’s responsibility to look after the household and the family as the mother tries to bounce back. The pain that Amal feels as she has to watch over her sisters and cook for her family as she misses school drives her into insanity.
Some people don’t get to go to school past middle school, let alone college. We should be able to enjoy ourselves, because school and education isn’t forever. In the case of Amal, the ending comes sooner than expected. All she did was say no. She stood up for herself and for her family. She denied fruit that she had purchased for her family. Now, she is serving her whole life to repay the debt of speaking up. She had to become a servant for a man that took everything from her: her family, friends, and education. Amal is the character that I want my students to know. I want them to have empathy for her and know her personally. I want them to aspire to be like her.
This book’s main focus was education, and what others have to go through to have the privilege of attending a class. However, through the heartache and pain that Amal faced, she never once gave up her dream of education and becoming a teacher. She even found opportunities to teach to other servants during her time of service. Amal’s name in Arabic means Hope. I think it is such a perfect name for her. She has hope for a better future and hopes to change all of the injustice in her village.
This book made me angry. I wanted to save Amal from the tyrant leader who made her a slave. However horrible the circumstances, Amal had the opportunity to be exposed to both a different lifestyle and education both with different people and books. At home, she would have never been exposed to the people and books that she had at Jawad Sahib’s estate.
‘Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan/ Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan’
Let us pray to not be sheltered from the dangers, but to be fearless when facing them.”
-Rabindranath Tagore
In this duel book, Malala Yousafzai and Iqbal Masih are introduced as two heroes of Pakistan that are highlighted for their bravery, freedom, and education. Each Malala and Iqbal were unafraid to speak out. Iqbal was a slave that was bound with chains to work in a carpet mill. He spoke out at 12 years old against the inhumane child slavery in the carpet trade. Malala stood up for the right for girls to attend school.
Both Malala and Iqbal were aware of the consequences of speaking out. However, they didn’t care. They both were shot by those who disagreed with them. Iqbal was shot in 1995 and Malala in 2012. Iqbal was killed instantly, and Malala miraculously survived and continues to speak out around the world.
Although I wish that there were more details provided for readers, the book offers jus the right information for its particular evidence. Readers familiar with Malala and Iqbal will be excited to have this book to share with younger readers. I think that young readers will be shocked to learn that girls in Pakistan were discouraged from being educated and that children were kept in physical bondage weaving carpets to pay off their children’s loans.
I like how the author chose to tell both stories, one starting in one direction and the other from the other direction. When the two stories join in the middle, it is as though their fates and influences were somehow tied together. The quote by Tagore at the start of both stories is a wonderful reminder of how to live one’s life, not hiding in hear but facing challenges bravely.
This is an excellent book to add to classroom libraries. It will spark inspiration in children to make a difference in their life. It is important for students to realize that education is not given in may countries and many things that children love are created through child labor.
