A great book to inspire empathy and to help your anxious students feel seen and not hidden. Another way to bring diversity into your classrooms in a beautiful way.

This book has been on my list for a while and I am so glad to have read it. It is such a wonderful story about family, friendship, faith and community. Hena Khan did an excellent job of creating characters and a story that felt very realistic. Even though Amina has some growing pains with her best friend and a former "enemy" and even though Amina and her family and faith community experience a hate-filled attack, the book is still filled with hopefulness and empathy without shying away from these tough topics. I would recommend this to all readers.

Whether we articulate it or not, I think most of us would agree that we want to be heard and to know our voice matters. Amina, a middle schooler, is not so sure that hers does. Her friends are changing, her family is changing and an act of violence against her mosque sends her reeling. But she keeps it all bottled inside until her feelings are too big to contain. And that’s when things start to change as Amina slowly realizes that she can and should use her voice to stay true to who she is and share her gifts with others. This is an inspiring book about family, friendship, love and the ties that bind a community together.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

This was a great book with BIPOC characters. Amina is a shy 6th grader and learning to navigate middle school is hard enough but she has to work her way through some racism and sexism. The novel has layers that Amina lives through and figures out. It is about family, friendship, religion, race, and school. I am looking forward to reading Amina's Song!

What an incredibly touching and inspirational read! This would be perfect in any middle school setting. I would read this aloud to my class if we have time. It was beautiful. Amina stands out in school when all she really wants to do is blend in. Her only friend is Soojin who is struggling with her identity as well. Soojin is about to become a citizen and she's tired of having her name mispronounced and is considering changing her name to Susan. She is also hanging out with Emily more and more. The same Emily that Amina received as a mean girl before. That's not the only changes in Amina's life though. Her brother is changing too. And her parents feel like they need to impress her visiting strict uncle.

Amina is struggling to find her voice at home, at school and within her community. She loves to sing, but has performance anxiety just thinking about singing in front of people. When her uncle confirms her fears that her place isn't to sing for others, Amina is shattered. She wants to sing. She wants to share her talent. She wants to be a part of her religion and culture too. I love that a Quran recitation contest helps her find her voice. It's a wonderful way to connect her passion with her culture. It's a beautiful junction on her journey to find herself.

I love how real and relevant this novel is. We all struggle to find ourselves in middle school. Hate crimes are a sad reality we live in. When the community comes together to support each other - it's a heart warming time. This novel touched my heart.

Amina is just that, herself. When she enters middle school she finds out that Soojin wants to be one of the cool kids. Amina, being true to herself, never thought it would be this hard. Not only is middle school hard, and fitting in as well, her mosque is vandalized, and some not very nice things said about the members of her religious community. This short read is perfect for anyone that worries about being true to themselves.

This book aimed at late-elementary to middle school age is a nice look at the changes that kids go through as they make the transition into middle school. So many times this is an opportunity for kids to reinvent themselves, a theme in this book.

Amina enjoys being best friends with another immigrant girl, and when her friend tries to become more Americanized, Amina is left questioning whether she should do the same. She loves her heritage, and is worried that others might expect her to hide it.

There is a typical middle-school plot of changes in friend groups, and wondering whether there will be room for her as her bestie enlarges their friend circle. I say this is a typical plot, and it is, but not that it is a bad thing. It’s important for middle school girls, because they mature at such different rates. Mine is a late bloomer, and I see her feeling left behind as her friends’ interests change.

There is also a subplot of a visiting, rather disapproving uncle from Pakistan, and how Amina learns not to be afraid of him.

Predictably, Amina does gain confidence as the story progresses, and finds her voice.

Who might like this book:
Those who want to learn more about cultures other than their own. Those who like coming of age.

Possible objectionable material:
Vandalism. Friendship drama.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

For most kids in the United States, 6th grade means a new school...middle school. There are lots of changes not only with school, but with friends...both old and new. This is no different for Amina. It's a new year at a new school and Amina wants things to be the same. Her best friend, Soojin, has other ideas. Amina worries about her friendship. She experiences some jealousy over a possible new friend, and she feels fear and hurt over an unimaginable action.

For many readers, if they have any knowledge of the Muslim community, it is limited. The author, Hena Khan, does a beautiful job illustrating what daily life in America could be like for those in the Muslim Community.

My middle school self would love this book because there's girl drama, family drama, and environmental drama.

This e-ARC was provided by the publisher via #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Diverse books are very much in demand right now and this one fills that void wonderfully. It is great for those middle grade readers that touches the views of the world in a fun filled book. Very well written and would recommend for a book club pick for middle grade!

I could not read this as it did not download to my kindle and is now archived. Sorry, it sounded like a good book!

A very believable, heartfelt middle grade story about a young Pakistani-American navigating the world that hyphenated Americans do, trying to balance their relationships with family and peers, having roots in more than one culture. What does it mean in this context to be true to oneself?

If middle grade fiction is your jam, this book should be on your radar. Amina is a Pakistani-American navigating the tween years with her Korean friend, Soojin. The author does a great job of blending the issues that face many middle schoolers along with the issues Muslims face living in America. I’ve made a concerted effort to read about different cultures the past few years and I learn a great deal about the Islamic culture through this story.

I've had this book on my TBR list since it was published in 2017. Thanks to NetGalley's opportunity to read and review the upcoming sequel, Amina's Song as well as this first book in the series, I finally picked it up. I had no idea that it was set in the city that I teach in! I really enjoyed this middle-grade story of an American, Muslim girl of Pakistani descent. Amina is a happy middle school student who loves spending time with her best friend and singing, but only in private. She has terrible stage fright so when her family expects her to enter a Quaran recitation competition, she prays for a way to get out of it. Amina also wants to be able to sing at her school concert, but she's just too scared. At the same time, her best friend is making another friend and Amina fears that she is losing her. When Amina's mosque is vandalized, she realizes how much her community cares for one another. #AminasVoice #NetGalley

I really enjoyed reading Amina's Voice by Hena Khan - such a wonderful new voice!

Amina is a Pakistani-American Muslim girl, facing complications of being an immigrant in America. She grapples with faith, friendship, family, culture, and growing up while finding her voice and strength through music.

This was just such a delightful and easy read. It's full of heart and important messages about self-identity, community, and courage. I highly recommend it!

Very cute middle grades novel about Amina, a 6th grade daughter of Pakastini immigrants. Told through her perspective, she deals with a variety of issues ranging from shifting dynamics in her friend group to a hate crime. 100% and would recommend to upper elementary and middle school students with confidence.

I enjoyed this! I liked how all the plot lines concluded. Amina is flawed and makes mistakes, but she acknowledges when she was in the wrong and learns from the experience, such as with her treatment of Emily when Emily was trying to be friends with Amina and Soojin. Amina's growth and how she became more confident with her music, despite what her traditional uncle says about it, was also done well. Additionally, the support Amina gets from her parents - from telling them everything about what happened with Emily to them standing up for her to her uncle regarding his take on how they are raising their children, was touching and nice to see. Finally, this is small, but Mustafa's character arc was also delightful and heartwarming.

Amina's Voice was such a lovely middle grade book, with themes about familial expectations, faith, friendship, and the small yet significant struggles of being in sixth grade. A simple and charming story, Hena Khan manages to create a beautiful story revolving around the things that tether us to ourselves, and the changes that can rock our world when we're just 12. I loved reading this book, and would highly recommend it!

There is a lot going on in this story, but what sixth grader has a simple life? Amina grows and branches out by living through some difficult things (xenophobia, anxiety, etc). Today's students will connect with the story.

I enjoyed getting to know Amina and her family through this book. Amina and her family immigrated to the US - specifically, Greendale, a town in the Milwaukee area - from Pakistan when Amina was too young to remember. Her life revolves around her family, her school, and her mosque - although, like many kids her age, Amina complains about all of it. She wants to fit in, to be like the kids around her, but even so, her best friend is the first person she met who, like herself, has a name no one can really pronounce properly, Soojin, whose family immigrated from Korea. Amina is a gifted musician with a serious case of stage fright when it comes to singing, or even speaking, in public, so what is she to do when the Islamic Center hold a Quran recitation contest? Her normal life is further disrupted when her father's older brother, Thaya Jaan, comes to visit from Pakistan; he uncle practically raised her father, and both of her parents are very concerned that Thaya Jaan won't approve of their lives in Greendale. Throughout all of these life events, Amina experiences the same angst any girl her age experiences, filtered through her own life experiences.

This would be a wonderful book for any tween or teen struggling to fit in, especially those who, like Amina, are immigrants, or who are first-generation Americans. Tween and teen girls will also recognize Amina's struggles with entering middle school and having to reorganize who she is and how to relate to the people around her in light of past, often negative, experiences. This would also be a great book to use as a class novel for classes that are learning about, or struggling with, current events in regards to anything to do with immigrants, religious differences, and hate crimes.