Such an interesting book on an important issue, with fun and light-hearted characters. Reads for the younger side of young adult fiction!

This was an interesting read and an amazing plot. I loved getting to know the characters and i really enjoyed this one!

Compelling story about a Muslim girl in high school. Choosing between wearing her hijab or not was a part of her storyline and I really felt something as small to someone like me felt so much bigger hearing it in her words.

Books with representation like this are so very important! I loved how it focused on the experiences of young, Muslim girls, who are the type of people who would never usually get their own book. However, Sadia felt like a good 'introduction' for those unfamiliar with the Muslim faith rather than being a book for Muslim kids themselves. In saying that though, there is obviously nothing wrong with a book that opens the eyes of people unfamiliar to the struggle of minorities. In fact it is a good thing! And this book definitely has its heart in the right place. Here's to more diverse books being written and shared in the future!

I was automatically approved to read this one on Net Galley, so I thought I'd give it a go. The blurb was really interesting, and thought it would help me with a project I'm doing. While it had a promising start, it wasn't sustained all throughout. There were also a few red flags along the way, especially on how Muslim girls are represented (note that this not an #ownvoices book). Might be a good read for those looking for an introduction on young immigrants and/or Syrian culture.

This. This is the novel that will make people feel beautiful and special. This is the novel of the year. Read everyone because it will change your life. Thank you to the publishers for giving this to me!

This was a wonderful book about representation in Canada. Where I live in Canada something horrible has happened, a woman started screaming at a man to "go back to his country" and other horrible things. This book shows what it's like to be a POC in Canada. Especially talking about refugees from Syria and the Muslim religion. We as a people (white people) don't like things that aren't what we perceive as normal. We need to be more accepting. We need to let the Muslim girls play and accept that they are are just as human as we are.

This is the story of Sadia, Nazreen and Amira. Sadia and Amira are Syrian Muslims, while Nazreen is an Egyptian Muslim who have all found their way to Canada. Sadia and Nazreen have been in Canada for a while and they have had the time to adjust to the ways of life there. Amira, on the other hand, is new to Canada and has a lot of hurdles to cross before she can settle in. The language barrier is just one example. The book explores the barriers and conflicts that these girls face.

Frankly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book. On one hand, the blurb of the book indicated that it would be informative about the cultural differences. On the other hand, I wasn’t really sure if the Canadian Author would be able to do justice to the protagonist’s characters. I actually checked out the author’s Goodreads profile and website to see if she had any related experience. Only thing I could connect is that she has been a teacher for about a decade and so may have had interactions with Muslim girls as her students.

The author has done a good job with her portrayal of Sadia, Nazreen and Amira. At least I feel so because the characters felt very real to me. First is Amira, a Syrian refugee. I could understand, if not relate, to her homesickness as she was forced to leave her country. Leaving Syria and moving to Canada was not a choice that she or her family consciously made. Sadia on the other hand, had moved to Canada before the borders were locked down. She sees it as a blessing in a form. I admired her conviction and faith. Nazreen confused me though. I kind of understood the peer pressure she had trouble handling. What I did not understand was her attitude towards Sadia. Was she just jealous that she did not have the same faith or conviction? Or was she just indifferent and used Sadia when needed?

The characters and the narrative style of the author really hold the book together. The book is easy to get into and it is easy to like the protagonists for what they are because of the author’s narrative style. The voices in the book rang true. The plot was weak though. For most parts, there weren’t any major conflicts and the minor conflicts that were depicted were handled pretty easily. At times it felt like the author was looking for easy resolution rather than fleshing the plot. Also, real life is much more difficult and messier than this.

I started this book but do not plan to finish; I appreciate what the author is trying to do but right now I prefer to focus on Own Voices work about Muslim young people.

Sadia is a Syrian-Candian whose family immigrated before everything got really bad in Syria. This not only saved her family from death but also kept them from seeing a lot of the horror that the refugees have had to live in.

Sadia has acclimated to Candian life fairly easy as her family had been in the UK before for a few months. Now she is used to Candian life and even plays a sport basketball!

She also has a best friend Miriam who is also an Immigrant. They've both connected over the years through church and how they are the only two in their school to wear a hijab.
As well as a surprise character that I was not expecting but showed me how hard it can be to acclimate to a whole new life in real time.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. It is for the 9th-grade reader as well! Sadia and Miriam are such relatable girls and while this book does focus a lot on the hijab. It feels like at times the only things Miriam and Sadia have in common is their religion and their solidarity in wearing the hijab. Outside of that though we see them both grow as individuals, as well as still being there for each other.
I do highly recommend this book, but also take it with a grain of salt. I say that because Miriam and Sadia are told they will be wearing the hijab by their parents at a certain age. This makes it kind of look like they had no choice in the matter as is shown by Miriam's struggle with it as time goes on.
I also really liked how we got to see Sadia's brother doing something, and them interacting as real siblings! I love seeing this in YA books as well as parents that are actually involved in the child's life.

If I am wrong about anything I said in this trilogy please let me know and I will change it to the correct information.

At first glance, this appears to be an "issue" book. But really, what's wrong with that? A novel is a great way to get young readers to engage with a difficult topic, in this case racism and islamaphobia. But it's also more than that. Nelson uses this platform to explore sportsmanship, the ways we judge people, trauma. Sadia is judged by her appearance, yes, but she also judges Mariam for her decisions without considering her intense personal struggle. She takes actions that she thinks are best for others without considering their opinions. So we're left with some great discussion topics for middle grade readers. All with fairly round characters and easily understood writing.

I really enjoyed the book as it explored Sadia's relationship with her various identities (basketball player, muslim, canadian, syrian). It was a slow start for me at times but when i got to page 50 i was sucked in and fell in love with this book. It was interesting to see how the life that Sadia led was affected by her life in Canada. Even though i'm not a basketball fan, i was enchanted by her obsession with it and her fight to play, The dynamic between her and her friends and the new syrian refugee was interesting and it was interesting to see how the new girl adjusts to the country and how that affects her.

Sadia lives in Canada. She is 15, canadian, loves basketball and school, she has friends problems and boys problems. Sadia is also an immigrant, she moved from Syria when she was 11.

This is a story of friendship and family, but I would say that the main theme of this book was perspective.

It was a really beautiful story that left me wanting more.
The characters were great and the relationships between them, deep and captivating.
I could not stop reading and it stayed with me for a long while.
It mentioned some very important thematics and I truly think this should be read in schools everywhere.

I was really excited to read Sadia, the synopsis as well as the cover just screamed Sana Bakkoush and my curiosity peaked.
This was a bit of a confusing read. I go into reading YA knowing very well that I'm not the target audience, but with this book I'm not sure that YA is the target audience either. It definitely doesn't feel like a book for muslim YAs, it over explained the simplest of details. I would best describe this book as a children's introduction to Islam.
With that aside, I think the writing style is decent. The plot was okay, I really enjoyed the basketball story arc, but I wasn't feeling the rest. I can't help but think about how much more could've been done with the characters. What I expected to be the main focus, the experience of being an immigrant in Canada, didn't really deliver.

Honestly, this book was okay. The author did a lot of research with this (since it is not an own voices novel) and it was pretty on point. I asked my friend (she is not Muslim but has Muslim friends) about the whole hijab situation and she said that some people do not wear hijabs. It struck me as weird but nonetheless, it can be a serious topic. It was pretty much predictable and it felt like I was watching a Nick JR show because it remained safe and there were no action scenes or risky business. The novel overall is empowering towards not only Muslim females but female Muslim athletes as well.

It was really not bad, I would recommend it to someone that likes contemporary novels. However, it seemed a bit long at times, but it is worth reading for fun.

Canadian Syrian Sadia is a Grade 9 student who is incredibly passionate about basketball. She jumps at the chance to join this year's co-ed tournament team and her talent speaks for itself. The hijab that she wears as a Muslim, though, can pose a problem on the court. Surrounded by her teammates, her coach and teacher, and a new friend, a Syrian refugee named Amira, she learns to stand up for herself and fight for what's right.

This novel does a very good job to raise awareness and promote compassion between people. It's also a decent story if you're reading it for the basketball elements. This quick novel has been promoted YA, but it definitely reads tonally as MG. It's actually quite tame, but it still manages to raise several important questions - both on a personal and institutional level. In regards to the characters, as much as I liked getting to know Sadia, her friends, and family, I actually found myself rooting for their coach a little more. He's the sort of teacher I would have been honored to have as a high school student.

Sadia by Colleen Nelson is an inspiring story of a girl standing up for what she believes in and is passionate about. That said it doesn't particularly standout of the crowd. I also have to admit that I was expecting more from some of the basketball games we see on the page after all of that buildup. Just so you know, this novel doesn't qualify as #OwnVoices, but Colleen Nelson still offers insight as she is also a Canadian teacher who has taught refugee students.

" Three female Muslim teenagers must decide how far they are willing to go to defend their beliefs when faced with the pressures of life." Gimme that book!

Sadia, a story that could have gone right, but it didn't!

I am not going to lie, the major reason why I picked up this book is because of its cover. I also like how the plot revolves around an athletic, muslim, refugee girl called Sadia. That being said, let us dive into what went wrong.

1) Friend takes off her hijab trope

I don't understand why non-muslim authors who decide to write muslim characters are always gravitated to that topic.

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Do some muslim girls take off their hijab?
Yes!
But if the 1st thing that comes to your mind when you think of muslim girls is " Let us make her take her hijab off", then no thank you.

2) All muslims wear hijab trope.

When a new muslim refugee girl from Syria joins Sadia's school, she sees Sadia's best friend Nazreen.

“Your friend Nazreen,” Amira asked quietly. “Is she Muslim?”
“Yeah. She’s from Egypt.”
“But she doesn’t wear hijab.”

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The author said that she has done her research, but that mini conversation shows that she didn't research that much. Syria and Egypt are filled with Muslim girls & women who don't wear the Hijab, so why is Amira confused when she realizes that Nazreen is a muslim, but she does't wear the hijab?

3) Another research issue I noticed is Amira being stunned by snow, when it actually snows in Syria. .

4) Muslim girls unable to play sports, especially with hijab and with men trope.

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I want you to do a quick search of muslim girls and women who are athletic....
Have you ever watched the Olympics and the World Cup? Because every time, Egyptian Hijabi women and girls are participating in those. Sometimes, their coaches are men.

Growing up, I trained and participated in many sports. In all of them, except for ballet, the group I was training with included both, boys and girls.

4) The idea of women playing sports is a new, breakthrough achievement for muslims trope.

“You’re the basketball player! Amira talks about you. You play in hijab, she said. With the boys!”
Mrs. Nasser looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it.

There were a couple of things that I liked!

1) Controversy when it comes to playing basketball with hijab.

The Coach was seeking safety, which is a very sensible concern to have, especially with pins used to secure the scarf. This is when Nazreen steps in, and designs a suitable playing attire that complies with both, Sadia's religious practice, and the safety regulations.

Although such outfits already exit, I understand that many people have no access/ knowledge about it. Besides, safety regulations vary from one country to another, so that aspect of the plot was really appreciated. This was also inspired by real girls who created their own hijab sportswear, you can read the article about Aisha's story here

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2) Some Regulators were ignorant.

These things do happen, and I am glad to see that it was mentioned in the story.

3) The Cover.

4) No white hero savior bullshit.

I do acknowledge the author's good intentions, but the story had a lot of issues. Not as bad as the ones in Blood and ink, though.

Click here to read my review of Blood and Ink

I received a review copy in exchange with an honest review.

Hi. I am extremely sorry but I have not read this book. It was my mistake for requesting the book without looking at who the author was. When I read the description, the story was something that I thought would move me. And it still looks that way. But, I have only recently realized that this book is not #OwnVoices like I thought it to be.

Being a POC myself, I can't, in good conscience, support a white author who is writing about the struggles of a POC without experiencing them first hand. White people have controlled the narrative for far too long and they don't get to take this from us. Our stories, our culture, our heritage is ours and they have no business interpreting or presenting it in the way they perceive it to be because no matter what they think, they don't know us the way we know ourselves.

So, I will have to take a skip on this book and I hope that in the future you give more priorities to #OwnVoices books and not sign books by white people who are trying to emulate POCs.

Thank you. And I am extremely sorry if this came off as rude because that was not my intention. However, I hope you see this from my point of view.

I'm going to admit, when I first got approved for this novel, for some reason I thought it was #ownvoices? I realised I was mistaken quickly enough before I started it, but I was still excited and cautiously hopeful.

The novel is quite a powerful one. It seems like it could have gotten very messy, with a lot happening - but it all manages to tie in together quite well. It seemed honest and earnest, and I cannot be an accurate judge of whether or not the refugee status and the Muslim characters were presented accurately, but from my limited understanding of Islam, it was handled with grace.

A thing that bugged me was that, as far as I know, wearing the hijab is an intensely private and personal affair and choice. I have not heard anything about families forcing their girls to wear the hijab - though I may be wrong. It was a little jarring to read about when everything I've learned about that from my Muslim friends says otherwise, but it worked as a story.

The family aspect of it all was understandable to me, as I come from an Indian family, and was also raised relatively conservatively. My parents had expectations that I did not want to disappoint, and I could understand both Sadia and her brother's approaches to trying to find a balance between respecting their parents' wishes and following their own dreams. It made Sadia a very sympathetic character to me.

My absolute favourite thing about this novel, the thing that made me give it a 4-star rating pretty much, is the scene where Sadia is told she cannot play in the tournament, and her team, and then the whole court starts chanting "Let her play!". It was such a powerful scene. It gave me chills.

Overall, it was a good read, and I am very glad I got a chance to read it.