This is an excellent book for young readers. An "own voices" book written by a Muslim author, this book tells the story of a young Muslim girl growing up in the United States. While the book is geared towards readers aged 9-13 (or there abouts), it is a well written tale of a girl trying to negotiate life in middle school, with all the changing friendships, new opportunities, and fears that come with it. As a cultural introduction to Islam and the diversity of Americans who practice it, this book is a good reminder that, in the end, we are all people, with families and worries.

It is a very well-written book, with well-developed characters. The relationships between Amina and her parents, her uncle, her brother, and her friends all felt very real. The little details about clothing and food bring a vibrancy to the narrative and, if other readers are anything like me, will leave you just a little hungry.

The book addresses a number of different but important issues, without feeling preachy or overly moralistic. The challenges of growing up different from those around you we see not just with Amina, but with her best friend, a South Korean immigrant whose family is just about to be made citizens. Discussions about whether to keep a non-English name or change to one that is "easier" for Americans to say. The bullying minority children can face when their foods, their clothing, their accents are not "normal." Hate crimes against religious groups. American audiences, and American children (I am speaking here of the white majority, specifically), when they hear about events like these, don't often see or understand the perspective of those at the center of the conflicts. We see pictures of destruction at mosques or temples, but we don't hear the grief and fear of the children whose safe spaces have just been attacked. We don't hear the humiliated emotions of the child being made fun of for the food their mother makes them. This book provides a look at that other side of the story we so often are ignorant of.

I would highly recommend this book to young readers, but it is also a good book for adults to read to make up for that lost time.

A great look at middle school, mixed in with the complications of being immigrants and citizens from foreign countries, different religions. I learned a lot from this book.

Middle school can be a difficult time for any child. Amina must navigate between new responsibilities, transitioning friendships, and familial expectations. Through this heartfelt journey she will find her voice. Amina;s Voice is a journey many young readers will relate to. Khan has encapsulated the struggles of being an outsider in middle school as well as the trials students must fight through to survive public education. The plot is fast paced and jammed packed with emotional situations Aminaa must get through. Khan touches on many difficult topics such as racism, hate crimes, family expectations, and religious standards. Yet, the book feels rushed and sacrifices character development to the fast paced plot. More development in the character themselves and their relationships together would have added some depth to the plot and overarching themes of the book..

Amina is a sixth grader with a talent for music and a big heart. The only problem is that she gets stage fright when she is asked to perform. Amina starts to see things slowly change as she and her friend Soojin befriend a girl in their class named Emily, Amina's uncle comes to visit from Pakistan, and her brother Mustafa spends more time away from home with his friends from the basketball team. When an unspeakable crime occurs at the Islamic center, Amina will have to decide if she is courageous enough to use her voice for good or if she will remain silent.

This middle grade, diverse read will keep students interested as they try to find out what will happen in Amina's life next. Many topics are covered, including friendship, growing up, crushes on boys, community, family, fear, and faith. The writing is realistic, descriptive, and tells the story so well that it's easy to get involved mentally and emotionally. One particular religion is represented, but it's not pushed on the reader. I recommend this book to middle school students as long as the issues portrayed are discussed with them.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Amina, a Pakistani American Muslim girl, faces typical challenges as she starts middle school in a Milwaukee suburb. While gaining confidence to share her love of music with others, Amina also tries to stay true to her family, culture and customs.
Diverse, easy to read, timely. I felt that the characters were relatable and explored cultural differences well. A perfect middle grade novel that I would recommend to students and families. I will check out the next book in the series. Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Amina’s Voice is a sweet middle grade novel from the perspective of a girl from a Pakistani family. I enjoyed seeing the world from her perspective, and I know my students will too.

A great middle school story about friendship and expectations among friends, family, and the greater community. I previously read another book by the author and loved how the main character, a Pakistani girl who made some mistakes eventually learned from them and as a result, grew closer to her family and friends. In this story, Amina is learning to balance who she is and wants to be and her fears and anxieties about how she thinks the world thinks of her. Although she makes mistakes partly because of these fears, it is very relatable and realistic. Ultimately, her sweet nature wins out and you end up really rooting for her. As with the other book, this gave us a glimpse into the beautiful side of Islamic religion and culture as distinguished from the extreme factions. Just like in Christianity, there are very vocal and evil extremists who profess to be believers, but they lash out against anyone who does not conform to their standards and behave in ways that are completely against the teachings of the God they profess to follow. This was completely different and my heart hurt for those who were attacked for their beliefs but loved seeing the greater community come together in solidarity for their Islamic brothers and sisters. For anyone who seeks to understand more about families who practice the real Islamic faith, this is a must read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was received as an ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing - Salaam Reads in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

My heart was so warm and loved by the ambition that Amina had in saving her church. I know this will be very popular in our community especially our diverse community.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Sixth grade student Amina is too nervous to share her beautiful singing voice with others. Middle school is awkward enough without drawing extra attention to yourself. When friends start changing and life becomes uncertain, will Amina be able to draw on the strength of her family and her faith to have the courage to let her voice be heard? Find out in this heartwarming tale, which would be an excellent addition to any middle grade or middle school fiction collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Publishing for the review copy of this book in preparation for the book’s sequel to be published in March 2021. Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan is a beautifully written story about a Muslim girl in Milwaukee as she navigates the beginning of middle school. When something terrible happens at her religious center, she learns about resilience and friendship. I absolutely recommend this book and look forward to the second book coming soon.

Short, middle school novel set in the Miwaukee,WI area. As the book opens, Amina is refusing to sign up for a solo in her school's concert because she is scared to sing in public. The novel moves quickly from one scene into another, revealing her ethnicity and religious background, and her family and friends. I liked how the whole family grows throughout the story, even the adults -- in particular, Amina's father and his older brother learn to listen better to each other. Amina's father has been used to defering to his older brother, and while that worked when they were on separate continents, that did not work very well while his brother was visiting them for several months.

Amina is from Pakistan and her best friend Soojin is from Vietnam. The girls, now living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have been best friends since early elementary school. Now that they are in middle school, things are starting to change. Amina is afraid that she is going to lose her best friend, but after a series of events, she learns about true friendship.

Overall, I really liked this book. It weaves in a great storyline about what it’s like being Pakistani-American in today’s world, without being too cumbersome. It’s an excellent, diverse middle-grades book that would be a great read for any student in grades 4-7.

A sweet middle grades novel about a young woman struggling with typical middle school issues - friends, family, community, finding her place/goals. She also deals with shyness and finding her voice as she discovers who she is.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc! 2 stars - bumped up to 3 stars! I read this book with my students in a book club. My middle school girl students really identified with the characters. However, as an adult reading it - I could not connect at all with the characters. I love middle grade, it is one of my favorite genres, but this one just wasn't for me.

Amina's Voice is a beautiful book about a girl who learns what it means to be a part of her family's culture while finding a way to be her own person at the same time.

Please note: my request was approved so close to the archive date that I missed my chance to download the book. My review is based on a print copy I borrowed from the library.

This is a fairly quick read, so should be a good choice as a readaloud or for your reluctant readers. It will also appeal to your realistic fiction readers who are looking to expand their horizons. This book will potentially introduce readers to a culture they are not familiar with, and that is always a good thing. There is a lot of explanation in this book, as Amina introduces different foods, prayers, and practices and then (briefly) explains what they are. But, at its core it is about a middle schooler trying to adjust to changes in friendships, family drama, and finding her own place in the world. There is a smidge of language ("hell") and a scary situation, but it should be fine for fourth and fifth grade. I agree with at least one review I read, that everything gets resolved awfully quickly, but the upside is that it keeps the book at a manageable size for less confident readers.

I put off reading this one for a little while, not sure why. But I loved it. I thought it was an excellent view of how friendship changes when middle school hits, and how we can mature over time.

TW: HATE CRIME

"Embarrassing? I don't understand this embarrassing. Why do you care what people think?"
- pg. 27 Baba

--Cute, sweet contemporary novel w/ supportive family & friend drama.
--Singing! I'm such a sucker for the arts in literature.
--Anxiety is well handled
--Amina & Soojin are adorable friends that we need more of
--Tackles heavy, relevant topics
--Happy ending leaves you feeling good

I deeply apologize, but I didn't read the pdf on Adobe Reader before it expired, therefore I didn't get a chance to review it. I was really excited to read this one, yet it's very difficult for me to keep track of the expiration dates in which I never check them. Thank you for this amazing chance for this arc though!

This book was okay. I kind of wanted it to be longer because I thought there would be more about Amina singing in the spotlight. I needed a more satisfying ending.