The writing in Unsettled by Reem Faruqi is stunningly beautiful. This is a story, written in verse, of a young woman immigrating from Pakistan to the United States. The challenges of coming to a brand new country with such different cultural norms is described beautifully. At one point, Faruqi describes Nurah's mother cleaning the house frantically before a repairman comes so he will not consider them "dirty." Nurah notes that when the repairman arrives, he never takes off his shoes and tracks dirt through the house.

Nurah's character is exceedingly well developed and the story is written from her perspective. This makes the book's many events slightly easier to follow, though there are still a bit too many for my taste. Family traumas, abuse, friendship, Islamophobia, and special talents are all addressed, meaning that none of them are addressed to quite level of depth that they could be. Faruqi's writing is so beautiful and Nurah's voice so relatable, this seems like a loss.

Still, Unsettled is truly a gift to the reader. Nurah is a character a reader could spend hours with and only hope for more. This is a book that communicates the human experience of immigrant families in a way that is helpful for immigrants and non-immigrants alike.

I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved that this story was told in verse. It moved quickly and was beautifully written. I felt like Faruqi really said so much with so few words, and I like how she played with the font as well, to add depth to the meaning of her words. However, given how quick of a read it was, I wish there had been MORE words. I didn't feel like we got to see enough of Nurah's life in Pakistan in order to be able to draw a strong enough comparison between her life prior to her move, and her life in the U.S. It was almost like, the book began and almost immediately her family was moving. Additionally, I'm not sure I love the title "Unsettled". I understand the meaning of the title, but the book was so beautifully broken into nine parts, named for different aspects of gardening that served as a metaphor for Nurah's experiences, that I would have liked it better if the title of the book also had some kind of gardening/plant allusion in order to tie it all together. However, I thought Nurah's growth and ultimate acceptance of who she is was believable and will resonate with many children who have experienced similar uprooting. I will be purchasing this for my library

Moving to a new neighborhood is hard, but moving halfway around the world can be overwhelming. At first, everything in Georgia seems different. Nurah is different. The one place where Nurah and Owais feel comfortable is the pool. Dipping into the blue, they can almost feel at peace.

Written in verse, Unsettled is a fast moving, compelling read. Some chapters are a few pages, others a few sentences. Author Reem Faruqi takes advantage of the sparse language, allowing the spaces and silences to say as much as the words. The simplicity is eloquent and moving.

Nurah is a lovely character. Throughout the book, she learns her own heart, her own hopes, her own talents. Nurah finds her voice, and begins to discover who she wants to become.

Unsettled is a warm read that offers themes of empowerment, belonging and self-discovery.

Must have new title for a windows book for many students but a mirror book for those important kids that need it!!

Nurah is a typical teenage girl, she worries about fitting in, making friends and enduring parents who make decisions without discussing them with their children, Decisions like moving halfway around the world to Georgia for "job security".

Nurah leaves behind a family she loves, to come to a place where she eats lunch under the school stairwell because the kids aren't overly friendly. Her safe spaces are math and art class, and the pool. She convinces her brother to join the swim team with her, and wants nothing more than be the medal winner he is.

I really love verse novels, and know that some of my more reluctant readers like to pick them up because they seem more approachable. I feel as though many of students will like to read about Nurah's family and look forward to adding Unsettled to my classroom library.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an early e-ARC of this book.

Nurah, a young Pakistani girl, and her family move from Karachi to Peachtree City, Georgia, hoping for better opportunities as her father says. But Nurah misses her home where she fits in and feels like she belongs.

In Georgia, Nurah stands out in the way she dresses, speaks, and the color of her skin. She is lonely and alone until she meets a friend, Stahr, at swimming tryouts and starts to find a reason to want to stand out. She wants to get attention for swimming like her older brother Owais. Her confidence wavers as Owais seems to overshadow her in the pool, but as her swimming success increases, so does her belief in herself both in and out of the pool.

A great middle grade novel in verse debut that spotlights the highs and lows of the immigrant experience, and discovering your place after leaving the only home you’ve ever known.

A beautiful story in verse about Nurah's experience moving from Pakistan to Georgia and learning to navigate her new home. Nurah tries so hard to blend in at school and hides as much as she can. Nurah and her brother join a local swim team where she meets Stahr who helps Nurah become more confident in who she is, in the pool and at school. Eventually, Nurah learns to love who she is despite her differences.

A fabulous story that will resonate with all students, as we all feel a little different at times and/or feel like we stand out for all the wrong reasons. Students will all see a piece of themselves in Nurah's story, hopefully seeing that being themselves is always enough.

“Unsettled” provides an important perspective that is too often silenced. Nurah leaves her home in Pakistan as a teenager and struggles to adjust in the United States. She starts adapting as she makes a friend and joins a swim team. When 9/11 happens her parents are investigated by the FBI because of their Muslim faith and her brother is brutally beaten in a locker room. This book is meant for middle grade audiences and the content is appropriate for that age level. The difficult scenes are told from the teenage narrator’s point of view and the author does an excellent job covering such difficult, real topics at a level middle graders can understand and empathize with.

I loved this book! I’m trying to educate myself about the experiences of immigrants and people of color. This was a moving story and I fell in love with Nurah and her family. The writing was sparse, but beautiful! I would definitely recommend this book!

heartfelt and beautifully written. I believe many readers will connect with this special book. I will be recommending to several kids I know who are always looking for a new novel in verse to dive into.

To belong; to be accepted, to be seen, to be heard.

Sometimes you read words that describe your emotions aptly.
The words are your sentiments.
They are your voice.

This novel in verse follows the story of thirteen-year-old Pakistani Nurah Haqq who moves from Karachi, Pakistan to Peachtree City, Georgia.

It was refreshing to see a voluntary migration as opposed to Muslims fleeing wars.
Nurah’s father has a better job opportunity and so they leave behind the beaches of Karachi, the familiarity of Nana Abu and Nani’s hugs, the comfort of friends, the smell of motia and make the move for a better tomorrow.

There is so much I loved about this book. So many relatable moments.

So many factors overwhelm you in a new place: the landscape, sounds, smells, pronunciations, the struggle and want to hold onto the self and identity.

Nurah is a brave, introspective soul who struggles to find balance between her two worlds. She also has personal struggles over her competitiveness and jealousy with her brother.
Her apprehension at the move, missing her friend, being conscious of her kurti and skin color, the happiness at meeting another girl who wears modest swimwear and then realizing what that actually means was all endearing to read.

As the family establishes new roots there is an incident of Islamophobia, bullying, target visit by the FBI, lessons in making new friends, comfort in place of worship, assimilation and the closest place to feeling at home is being in a pool.

These were all real and raw moments, instances that many immigrant youth infact many immigrants will be able to relate to.

It is fitting that Ms Faruqi chose to tell her first middle grade story through novel in verse, as poetry can be economical with words and impactful with feelings, making you pause and reflect on the words and the message.

The story is divided into nine sections and each section’s title had my heart: Uprooting, replanting, water, planting seeds etc.
These speak to the struggles faced by immigrants as they cope with loss of cultural norms, questions about religious practices and the struggle to fit in without losing your identity.

As Nurah plants seeds and establishes new roots she grows, finds her voice and learns to stand up for herself and others.

It would be remiss of me if I do not mention the gorgeous book cover and drawings inside the book!

Through the illustration, designer Molly Fehr and illustrator Soumbal Qureshi bring us Nurah’s past and future. The mementos on the scarf reflect the important parts of Nurah’s life.

The book ends with a glossary along and a recipe for aloo kabab (yum!)

Drawing lessons from personal experiences, Ms Faruqi gives us a lyrical and heartwarming read!
Unsettled releases May 11th,2021.

(Triggers: mention of miscarriage/abusive parent/ incidents of racism)
(Please note this book does touch upon crushes)

Unsettled is a beautifully-written book that captures the author's youth well. It is open and caring and builds the reader's knowledge of what it is like to be in this author's shoes growing up. A book that is uniquely written in the verse style, it adds an eloquence to the storyline.

I devoured this beautiful novel in verse in less than 24 hours and can't wait to share it with my middle schooler readers. Fans of "More Words for Home" and "Efren Undivided" will also devour this beautiful story.

"Unsettled" shares the experiences of Nurah and her life after she moved from Karachi, Pakistan (pronounced "Pah-kiss-stahn") to Peachtree City, Georgia with her parents and older brother, Owais.

Reem Faruqi shares a powerful story inspired by her own experience of moving from Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates to Peachtree City as a girl. There were scenes that made me laugh out loud such as "Temper," and scenes that made me want to cheer out loud, such as the time Nurah finds her voice on the bus to stand up to a couple of bullies. Other scenes made saddened and angered me as I read about acts of hatred and racism towards Nurah's family and others who were somehow different.
"Unsettled" is a must have title in your K-8 school or classroom library collection.

A wonderful book in verse, loosely based on the author's own experience, about a girl's move from Karachi, Pakistan to suburban Georgia. There's plenty of compelling plot to engage middle grade readers and draw them into Nurah's world and the challenges of fitting in and making friends. The lyrical telling is especially unique and gives the book added emotion.

Beautiful own voices novel in verse! I read it all in one sitting. I loved reading about the authors experiences that inspired ideas for the book. This book should be in every classroom.

In this novel in verse, Nurah's father has gotten a job in the US, and moves the family to Georgia for better opportunities in education and employment than they have in Pakistan. They leave behind a grandmother who is suffering from dementia, friends, and a home that they love. The US is different, and starting in an extended stay hotel while they look for a house is not ideal. Nurah's brother, Owais, joins the local swim team with her, but isn't his usual self. Another girl at the pool, Stahr (who lived very near Nurah's new house), also wears long sleeves when she swims, but it's because her father is abusive. Nurah's mother has a miscarriage and is very depressed about it, and Stahr's mother visits. This connection helps both of them, and Stahr is a good friend to Nurah, who struggles with some other students who make mean comments and are generally unwelcome. Nurah doesn't feel as confident speaking up in the US as she did back in Pakistan, but when she sees repeated injustices, she starts to rebuild her confidence and starts to speak up for herself and others.
Strengths: There have been a lot of books lately about immigrants who have little choice but to leave their home countries because of war or other reasons, so it is interesting to see Nurah's perspective when her parents want to come to the US but she would rather stay. It was great that she was involved in the swim team. The reaction of the other students is unfortunate, but hopefull books such as this one can help young readers understand what it is like to move to a completely new environment. The page decorations are attractive, and comparisons to both Other Words for Home and Front Desk are apt. Teachers who like a lot of lyrical descriptions and figurative, poetic language will love this one.
Weaknesses: It would have been nice to see more of Nurah's life in Pakistan, so the contrast to life in the US was more vivid. There's a lot going on, with the grandmother, the mother's miscarriage, and Stahr's bad family situation. Since the book is fairly short, it would have been nice to see more of Nurah and her family's adjustment to school, foods, her home, and friendships.
What I really think: While I would like to see stories about immigrant children that don't have so many sad things happening, that is often the reality. Most of my students with roots in other countries came to the US when they were very, very young, so don't have an experience like Nurah's. It's important to have lots of different stories, and I hope in time we get more like Khan's Zayd Saleem or Pancholy's The Best at It that have stories centered around middle grade activities with students with a variety of cultural background. (I'd love to see more children from Somali, Ghana, Nepal, Iran or Eritrea, because that's the background many of my students have.)

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I thoroughly enjoyed the poetry. It is well-written and encompasses so many different emotions through the course of the immigrant family's experience--family relationships, sibling rivalry, friendship, coming of age, school, culture changes, and so much more. I appreciate that this novel is clean and can be kept in the classroom. I love how the author focuses on the positive transformation of the Pakistani girl Nurah and that the family does not come from a fanatical or oppressive culture. The recipe at the end was a pleasant surprise, and the glossary is a well-thought out addition to the book. I can't wait to order this book for my school library and recommend it for multi-cultural studies.

I was blown away by Unsettled. I don’t know how Faruqi could say so much, create such a vivid world, in so few words. The verse is poetic and pulled me right in. I feel like I got to know the deepest and most vulnerable and complex parts of the characters, and I was really invested in them. I have found myself thinking about this story a lot since I finished it a few days ago. I could not put it down!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance e-copy. I’ll definitely be getting copies for the middle-grade readers in my life.

A book I'll be adding to my classroom book clubs! An incredible story of fitting in when you're trying to stand out. Always a tough thing when trying to find your place at school and in your community. Nurah must learn to balance her friends, family and being true to her culture and beliefs. She looks up to her brother and his strength but what happens when his strength is tested by the hate of others? 5 stars is just not enough!
#NetGalley #Unsettled #OwnVoices

"Unsettled" by Reem Faruqi
Release Date: 5.11.2021

Nurah and her family move from Karachi, Pakistan, to Peachtree City, GA. She doesn't want to leave her family and friends. Nurah just wants to do is blend into her new school and neighborhood. Instead, she stands out. People notice her accent, her kurtas, and tea-colored skin, and she feels excluded. She eats lunch by herself. Nurah decides to go to swimming tryouts, where she meets Stahr. Nurah wants to stand out with her swimming, not live in her brother's shadow.

This was such a great story. Written in verse, the reader is immersed into Nurah's life, finding out the transition for each family member is difficult. Inspired by the author's real life experience in her move to the U.S., it will mirror many of my students' feelings and experiences. I enjoyed seeing Nurah's maturity through the novel, showing how she reacted to each challenge and disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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