An Andalus Adventure

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The book would naturally lend itself to the students keeping character journals, the supplements and backmatter would allow for references and insight in to real history, and I think the book would do really well in this set up to connect with the audience. Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber, Qasim, joins Tariq's men, and is swept away on an amazing quest. Filed under 5th grade and up, Historical Fiction, islamic fiction, middle grades, Middle School, Muslim Author, Muslim Character, OWN Voice, ramadan, Uncategorized and tagged 2022, adventure, An Andalus Adventure, Andalus, battle, berbers, boats, clean, Eid, friendship, Historical Fiction, horses, Iberia, Islam, islamic fiction, islamic historical fiction, jews, liberation, Middle School, northern Africa, Oppression, ramadan, S. The book opens with two young siblings Ben and Bella, overlooking the coast, dreading their lives under Visigoth oppression, and hiding their Jewish culture and faith.

The year is 711 CE, 92 years after the Hijra of the Prophetﷺ and seventy-nine years since hisﷺ death.N. Jalali is an author of works of fiction for older children and YA, from boarding school adventures to her newest adventure packed novel; a historical fiction for Young Adults inspired by real-life historical events of the birth of Muslim Spain. I appreciated the updates on the characters and it showing Muslims and people of other faiths coexisting and being accepting even within families, but the connection to the story was a little lost. Jacob, captured in Julian’s raid on Iberia, is tied up and thrust upon a galley boat bound for North Africa. The summary might make the book seem fast paced, and while it does constantly move forward to a clear destination, it isn’t a “buckle your seatbelt and hang on” type of story. Similarly, I love that it mentioned Abbas Ibn Firnas, but I don’t know that most kids know enough about him to know what is being hinted at and what the outcome was of his flight at the end.

I love that the book is clean, although, I do wonder if more information about Lady Florinda would have helped the reader understand her father’s desperation, I do understand the vagueness, but it is a glaring omission that keeps the reader curious. Depending on the nature of the fault, we may ask for you to send the faulty item straight to the manufacturer, who has the ability to repair and replace the item. Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber Qasim, joins Tariq’s men, and is swept away on an amazing quest.You could read a chapter Monday, and then pick it back up on Thursday and not worry that no one remembers anything because it is focusing on new characters anyway. This author’s style is a bit more slow, but I think in the House of Ibn Kathir series, the setting of being in school and having friend problems is relatable to readers; boarding horses on to a boat, deciding to wage war, and going in to battle are not familiar concepts, and without the emotional connection it loses momentum. It then jumps to the Governor of Ceuta, Count Julian (Ilyan), awaiting to meet with Umayyad leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad. All that aside, I think the book has value, it is just really dry in spots, a lot of spots, and given the vocabulary, the changing narrators, the choppiness between chapters, and the history, it is hard to keep reading or be anxious to pick up once you have put it down. My teen and tween son couldn’t get past 38 pages or so, and I’ve asked around and no one I know that started the book, finished it.

The first few pages grip you, the last 50 bring it all together, but the middle 250 were hit and miss in this lower YA/upper MG book. It set up to add depth regarding Old Mother Magda, the Cave of Secrets, and the unverified death of the king, but after being stated it was never mentioned again or resolved for any real purpose. Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber, Qasim joins Tariq's men and is swept away on an amazing quest.We recommend that the parcel is packaged securely to prevent any damage whilst in transit and that proof of postage is retained.