I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui

Title: I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
Author: Nujood Ali and Delphine Minoui (Translated by Linda Coverdale)
Genre: Nonfiction, memoir
Publisher: Three Rivers Press, 2009
Source: Gift from my mom

This is the story of Nujood (and every time my husband saw me with the book, he would yell out, "I AM NUJOOD!"), a little girl married to an older man when she was 10 in order to pay some family debts. Although the man promised her father he wouldn't touch her until she reached puberty, Nujood was soon subjected to a life of physical and sexual abuse. Instead of silently giving in, she ran away to the courthouse and requested a divorce. Her story has given other young girls the inspiration and courage to request divorces of their own.

This was a quick little read - I finished it in two workout sessions. Nujood's voice is innocent and straightforward. She gives the facts about her life with simplicity and directness. After telling the story of her divorce, she explains a few other situations in her family that exhibit the desperation and inequality in Yemen. She also describes some of the uncertainty in her own life. While she managed to escape from her husband (you can't call that a spoiler when you take the title into account), she still lives with the family that essentially sold her to the husband in the first place. They still struggle to make enough money to live from day to day.

One thing that I thought was unique and refreshing about Nujood's viewpoint is that she doesn't resent her religion for the abuse she endured. She retains her faith in Islam - it is the system she has found fault with. Although she says she hopes in the future to be like the female lawyer who takes her case - "Like Shada, I will wear high heels, and I will not cover my face" - she also loves to study the Koran and never once blames her struggles on her religion. I think this is an important distinction to make - often it is the culture that results in the abuse of women and other activities we frown upon in western society, not the teachings of the religion itself. I am by no means an expert on Islam, so I can't really say more than that. But I appreciate Nujood's viewpoint and lack of resentment.

Overall, this is an interesting story and one that deserves to be heard. Often, we hear about situations in the Middle East through the media and politicians. Hearing it through the voice of a little girl who rose above her circumstances and fought for improvement was refreshing and at times moving. It is a simple story, but an empowering one.

Overall: 3.5

Middle East Challenge

I have quietly picked a few challenges to join for this upcoming year of 2011. They are listed on my Challenges tab but I haven't written the introductory posts yet, because I didn't want to bombard my blog with all of them at once. However, I just finished my last test before Thanksgiving break, so I can catch up a little!

I became aware of this challenge thanks to the Zen Leaf, and I was instantly excited for a couple of reasons. First of all, I am going to participate in the 2011 South Asian Challenge hosted by S. Krishna's Books once the challenge begins in January. I have long been interested in the culture and especially the literature of India, so I was very excited to participate. However, my interest also includes the Middle East, which is not included in that challenge. Therefore, I was excited to find another challenge that would encourage me to read some of the Middle Eastern books on my TBR.

Secondly, (kind of a trivial, personal reason) I have in particular one book on my TBR that my dad has been trying to get me to read for years, The Haj by Leon Uris. I read about 200 pages of it (it's a chunker) and never picked it up again because I was reading it during a busy nightmare semester. As I will only have two classes next semester (hooray for graduating!) I thought maybe I would have more time to get through this one. Maybe I will eventually return it to him! Haha.

Anyway, enough about me... This challenge is hosted by Helen's Book Blog. It began August 1, 2010 and runs through July 31, 2011 (in honor of Ramadan). The books must be either by an author from one of the countries considered by Helen to be part of the Middle East (there are a few different ways of dividing it, and she explains the way she is using on her post) or take place in one of those countries. There are no levels - you can just decide how many books you would like to read!

I have tentatively selected four novels to read. First, The Haj by Leon Uris (of course). I've also heard good things about Reading Lolita in Tehran, and every time I go to the University library it jumps off the shelf at me, so I will be picking that one up as well. I think I'm going to have to read Lolita first, though, just so I feel like I can relate to the author! On the challenge's main page, I saw a link for a book called Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye. I used to love her poems when I was younger, so I am looking forward to revisiting her work. I might have to read some of her poems again as well, because I can't remember them - just that I enjoyed them when I heard about them in school. Finally, I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali. Amazon suggested this book to me months ago, and I read a sample on my Kindle and was intrigued, but had forgotten about it after that. I am also intrigued by it because I watched a movie, Water, with my then-friend-now-husband about this time last year about child widows in India. It is certainly not the same, because the religions and regions are different, and Chuyia, the main character in Water, is a widow, not divorced, but she also was married at a very young age so I am interested to revisit this subject.

Looking forward to this challenge! I'll probably tackle The Haj first, and take it from there.