Curriculum Links: poverty and wealth, family, desire, greed, education, love, compassion, teamwork, determination and perseverance. spunky, not quite sure how to describe it, it's still a very solid debut and I'm excited to read more from this author.

Her motives and the importance she places on materialism are questioned directly causing her to rethink her previous ideals when problems start to confront her.Nura and the Immortal Palace is about Nura who is after a fabled treasure buried in the mine to help support her family experiencing financial troubles. So while we’re lost in an adventurous tale, it doesn’t fail to shatter the truth about the illusions. Sparkling with magic, Nura whisks you from the mica mines of Pakistan to the dreamy and dangerous realm of the Jinn. This hilarious sci-fi adventure highlights the importance of friendship and having the courage to face your fears. They are told they have the 3 days of Eid Al Fitre to leave the magical prison and, if they can’t, in 3 days they will lose all their memories of the human world.

after the 3 days of eid celebration, if the kids still can’t escape this immortal palace, nura and the rest will find themselves stuck forever. The juxtaposition between the bright, colorful world of the Jinn while hinting at the darker undertones of child labor was done in such a brilliant way. Her main character clearly wants what she can't have and her journey to claim it is fraught with problems for her to overcome, until ultimately, she discovers that what she needs is not what she thought that she wanted. The descriptions of the clothes and foods, and even the buildings themselves were just so familiar to me, as well as the little details like mentions of Eid and Ayatul Kursi that show the practice of Islam in rural Pakistan. This is a great fantasy tale by MT Khan with an important life message for all 9-13 year olds, and adults too.While she can act first, and think about the consequences afterwards, Nura is a middle grade heroine I would have loved as a child. Despite being for a younger audience I found myself absolutely captivated by this adventure that not only transports you to a world rich in South Asian culture but also imparts significant commentary on child labour and the cycle of exploitation that many families face in the real world.

Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange of a honest review. The story around the Palace itself is so interesting and I like the build up to what happens in the end and how Nura ends up learning from her past mistakes. By the end, Nura and the Immortal Palace also makes the readers realise why being educated is important. The two things that I appreciated on a more personal level with this book though were the big sister figure that Nura embodied because as an eldest child myself I saw my younger self in her, and also the depiction of day to day life in a Muslim community. The storyline was engaging, well-structured and I found myself transported to the jinn world with Nura.Nura, despite her humble origin, rises up to take on all the illusions and deceits of the immortal mischief-makers, and through her trials Khan presents a powerful view of the world we live in, where injustice and subjugation of the poor and powerless is as cruel and destructive as anything a djinni could conjure up. Although her mother is adamant that Nura needs to stop working so that she can get an educatio, Nura is taking it upon herself to help provide for her mother and siblings. But when a terrible accident traps her best friend Faisal underground, she determines to save him - and crosses over into the magical and treacherous realm of the jinn. I was pleasantly surprised to read direct Islamic and Quranic references as the majority of Muslim books are white-washed for sake of the majority of readers. Nura and the Immortal Palace is magical, atmospheric and fun - whilst never losing sight of its important themes of child poverty and exploitation.

But Nura quickly realises that greed in general could have a detrimental impact on her life and could determine whether or not she sees her mother and siblings again. Of not wanting to fall into another trap of servitude which preys on children, their naivety, their hope, and their love.Some day she's going to find the Demon's Tongue, a legendary treasure buried deep in the mines, and her family will never have to worry about money again. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother’s cautionary tales.