Louisa May Alcott Summer Reading Challenge Week 4
More to the Story
Jameela Mirza is an American teenager struggling with being the second of four sisters. She loves being part of a big, close-knit Pakistani-American Muslim family but sometimes her sisters drive her crazy. Jameela dreams of becoming an award-winning journalist like her late grandfather was and her father dreamed of. Baba always supports her but he takes a job half a world away for six months and Face Time and phone conversations are limited and shared with her sisters. Jameela is frustrated because the middle school paper editor always wants bland, boring stories. When Jameela is asked to profile her new family friend, Ali from London, she finds a way to write the story she's always dreamed of. A misunderstanding threatens her friendship with Ali and her future as a journalist. Then her younger sister Bisma becomes sick and Jameela is devastated, confused and worried. What can she, a 13-year-old girl do to help her sister? Can she discover how to use her voice to make a difference after all?
I really, really liked this adaptation of Little Women. It's different enough so that readers who unfamiliar with the original story can still read and enjoy this but also similar enough to be appreciated by those who know and love Louisa May Alcott's novel. It's a story of four sisters and their daily lives. 19th-century values are translated to NO DATING for the Mirza sisters and Transcendental philosophy is equated to no phones for the two younger girls and no social media. That makes sense but there should be more to it than that. These sisters fight a lot, as much as the March sisters, sometimes more, but at the end of the day they're family and they love each other and support one another.
I appreciated the changes to the story to update it for present day. I liked learning more about Desi culture. For example, instead of the opening scene being set at Christmas, it's set during Eid, which that year fell during the hottest summer in Atlanta. I also really appreciated the discussion on microaggressions. Some I didn't even realize and others are absolutely appalling. Baba, Mr. Mirza, has to fly to a job interview on Eid, a big Muslim holiday. One of the sisters points out he would never be asked on a job interview on Christmas. Good point and very true, a fact a local school board recently had to contend with when they put the first day of school over the most important Jewish holiday! Mr. Mirza chose not to fight it though. Also wonderful is Jamilla's struggle to become a real writer. I was surprised by the outcome of the school paper subplot. It was refreshing to read about (view spoiler) This story only takes place in less than a year and doesn't include the second half of the novel.
The characters in this story are younger than Alcott's. Aleeza, the youngest sister (Amy) is only 10 and Maryam (Meg) is 14. In Little Women, Amy is 13. That skews the story a little younger, especially for a modern reader but that was fine with me because I'm tired of the Jo/Laurie dilemma. However, it makes Jameela and Aleeza's fights awkward because Aleeza really is very young and lacks an understanding of some things Jameela feels strongly about. Certainly 10 is too young to understand cancer and all that implies. So in that regard, I felt that sometimes the squabbles between the sisters were too much. Otherwise, I really enjoyed Jameela's voice. It took me awhile to get into the first-person narration. I would have preferred to know more about all the sisters but once the story went along, I got caught up in Jameela's struggles and identified with her even though I'm not a teenager or a person of color. I DID however write for the Junior High newspaper and wanted to write stories about an issue I felt strongly about and realized no one was actually reading anything in the paper except the personals column and certainly not my "real" journalism. Like Jameela, I also broke the ethics rules sort of by accident so I could certainly relate to that part of her story. I could also relate to her casual dressing style and lack of interest in fashion, unlike Maryam who is into clothes and makeup.
I loved Jameela's relationship with her father, whom she calls Baba. It felt Austenesque in the way Mr. Austen supported Jane and tried to get her published. Baba's father was an award-winning journalist and Baba always wanted to be one too but it was a risky profession so he went into science instead. He studies infectious diseases and ironically, he lost his contract with the National Institute for Health. The story clearly takes place pre-COVID! How quickly it feels dated! As a consequence of losing his contract, Baba is out of work and money is tight. Jameela is acutely aware of this, much as Louisa May Alcott was aware of her family's precarious financial situation. Fortunately for Jameela, her father wants to work and does not ask or want the children to get their working papers. Maryam babysits and Mama works.) Jameela worries about money a lot but keeps her feelings bottled up inside. She isn't as close to her mother and doesn't want to worry Mama with her concerns while Baba is away. Jameela also keenly feels the loss of her only ally in the family and the author is a good enough writer to make ME feel that loss FOR Jameela. I felt sad with her and mad at the others for not giving her time alone to speak with Baba.
The other sisters are less developed because of the first-person narration. We only see them from Jam's perspective. Maryam is a teenager. At 14 in high school, she wants to fit in with her peers. She's always looking at her phone and has her headphones on. She's a little disconnected from Jameela and they're not very close. Jameela accuses Maryam of spoiling Aleeza, their youngest sister but I didn't see it that way. Maryam tries to mediate but it sounds to Jameela like Maryam is taking Aleeza's side. I didn't see Aleeza as spoiled or bratty, certainly not like Amy. She's younger and therefore more innocent than Amy. While at 13, Amy is fully capable of understanding why she's being left out even if she doesn't like it and the consequences of her actions. Aleeza doesn't feel left out, she's just very young and acts young. She never does anything to deliberately provoke Jameela and therefore I think some of Jam's anger is unjustified.
Bisma is super sweet. She's a little shy and very loving. She is still a little girl and wants harmony in the household. Bisma loves music like Beth. I admit to tearing up a bit when Bisma becomes sick; not at the same level as Beth's near deathbed scene but still, I cared enough about this sweet little girl to be upset. Her illness is scary and so is the treatment.
Ali is not Laurie. He's not the spoiled, wealthy, lonely young man next door. Ali's father died recently and his mother is busy trying to sell their house so they can move to Atlanta to be near family. Ali was sent alone so he could start school right away and not arrive in the middle of the year. He also has a little sister back home he misses very much. His relationship with his sister makes him great with Bisma and Aleeza. He's especially wonderful with Bisma. Ali has a darker side to him. He's brooding and there's something weighing on his mind. It makes him a more well-rounded character but he could be a little bit better developed. He's fun and funny most of the time though. He's friendly and bonds with all of the sisters. His comments on British vs. American English are funny but today kids have YouTube and TikTok to introduce them to other languages and cultures so I'm not sure that sort of miscommunication happens today. It did in my day but I figured out trousers vs. pants pretty quickly. (A fellow intern, British born and middle schooled in the U.S. had a really funny story about the language difference though). I didn't like all the times Jameela worries about him checking out Maryam and their conversation about it. That felt a little too forced.
Mama is not as wonderful as Baba. She has to take care of the four girls and the house and work outside the home. She has little time to intervene in sibling rivalry and she doesn't share Jameela's passion for writing so Jameela can't confide in her. I did appreciate the inclusion of Marmee's angry every day of my life speech and wise counsel on learning to control your temper. Her advice works today as well as it did in the 1860s. The secondary adults are fabulous. I love Uncle Saeed and Farah Auntie. They're so vibrant, warm and loving. They don't have an equivalent in the original novel. Even though they come from a different background than my family, I see similarities between Farah Auntie and my great aunt Mary. They both express love with fabulous food and in spite of being childless, love and care for numerous family and friends.
As much as I enjoyed this, it felt a little short. I would like a sequel to catch up with the Mirza sisters and see how Bisma is feeling. Maybe it could be from Aleeza's point-of-view to better understand her and see how she feels being the youngest of four girls and the sister of a sick person. How does Bisma's illness change her? I would imagine she has to grow up faster and learn about things her parents would rather not have her worry about at her age.
I highly recommend this novel to tweens, teens and adults whether they're fans of Little Women or not.
Wow! This LW retelling sounds fascinating and rich in the Pakistani-American culture. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a good one, different and interesting. NO romance. It's just the first half of the novel through Beth's illness and then there's an epilogue a few months late. I'm trying to push my niece into reading this. She'll love Jameela! The others I read were so-so.
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