At 224 pages, this graphic novel tells an important OWN voice story in beautiful and powerful illustrations, but despite reading it multiple times, I ultimately found the pacing a bit off, the narrative and plot holes quite large, and the conclusion too forced.  It claims to be for middle grades which would explain the happy ending, but the assault, trauma, mental health, Bengali history, language, and protagonists age (13) I think make it more suited for upper middle school.  I read a digital ARC in predominately black and white images, so I'm hopeful that part of the problem is on me, and that I simply missed or misunderstood parts that seemed to jump around and assume, or that because it was an uncorrected proof, some revision is still to come.

SYNOPSIS:

Nisrin is 13 and lives in Oregon with her mother, and maternal grandparents.  Her mom travels a lot and she seems to spend most of her time with her loving Nani, grandmother.  The story opens with Nisrin in 8th grade giving a presentation about her Bangladeshi heritage to her school.  On the way home with a friend, Firuzeh, she is still wearing the cultural clothing and they are playing around with the scarf, when they are violently attacked and the scarf is ripped off of Nisrin's head.  Her hair is pulled out in the process and the two girls are taken to the hospital and when released maintain professional counseling to process and deal with the assault.  Nisrin fears leaving her house and is increasingly isolated within her home.  

Over the summer we see her and her Nani go over to some cousin's house where Nasrin is gawked at with her short hair and everyone is unsure how to act around her.  She joins some cousins playing video games where she asks about a cousin in hijab who says that it is essentially her choice between her and Allah (swt), that it isn't any one else's business.  A younger cousin tells that she plans to start hijab soon and is surprised to learn that Nisrin's mom is not Muslim. 

As summer comes to an end, Nisrin will be starting high school and exits her room the night before wearing a hijab, or in Bengali, an orna.  Her family freaks out, her Nana, maternal grandfather, is furious claiming that she should have been raised better, and Nisrin is scooted off to her room by her Nani, so that her mom and grandfather can argue.

On the first day of school, Nisrin tries to talk to Firuzeh, but once again things are awkward between the two girls.  A teacher refuses to try and say Nisrin's name and becomes angry and aggressive, and at PE she is called a slut and asked if she will be beat for showing her legs.  Nisrin goes home to research Islam and hijab, but everything is so angry and opinion based that she is more confused than when she started.

The next day she meets a nice girl, Veronica, and the two work on an assignment in class and then have lunch together.  Veronica suggests that Nisrin learns about Islam like she would a school assignment and go research it at the library.  Later at home, Nisrin starts to understand what her grandparents and mother saw and endured in the war of 1971 when Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan.  Her mom and Nana argue over what was seen and Nisrin starts to find her voice in her family.  

Nani takes Nisrin shopping for long sleeved clothes and scarves, things are worked out with Firuzeh and Nisrin's family accepts that Nisrin is not asking permission to wear her scarf, but is hoping they will accept it.  

WHY I LIKE IT:

The book is such a flip on the over-used-stereotype that Muslim girls are forced to wear hijab, in truth many are encouraged not to.  At one point Nisrin says, "If I can't be safe...then can't I at least be proud."  She was attacked for just playing with a scarf and putting it on her head, so she reasons, that there is not safety from racism and hate, she might as well be proud of who she is.  I also love the strength in the idea that she doesn't need anyone's permission, it is her faith, her head, her choice.  

There is a lot of good in the book, but I struggled understanding quite a bit of it.  It mentions that she was at Texas and she loved it, but there was bullying? No idea what it was in reference to or what purpose it served.  At the beginning the two girls seem like they have been friends for a while, but yet Nisrin warns Firuzeh that her Nani will force her to eat.  Nisrin seems to really love her sleep overs, and I don't know if it is just to show at the end the healing by coming full circle, but it seems a bit juvenile to be that excited about to me.

The family dynamic and history, left me very confused.  Nisrin doesn't know her cousin wears hijab, and is confused that her aunt doesn't.  Nor do her cousins know that Nisrin's mom isn't Muslim?  These cousins call Nisrin's Nani, Dadi, and since there is no father in the picture it is obvious to even none desi folk that these cousins are related through the mom's family and the cousins father, so why when Nisrin decides to wear hijab is the maternal side so upset? Why does Nasrin's mom ask if her cousins have put her up to it? Ok if the mom isn't religious, but does she actively practice another faith? Why in one of the portraits on the wall does the woman seem to have a bindhi? The Bangladesh independence admittedly is something I should know more about, but I don't, and this book, didn't really fill me in.  How is the grandfather both siding? He doesn't like invader nationalism, but I still don't completely understand why he left, and what that solved.

The pacing and tone at times are off too me too.   I didn't feel the strain on Nisrin and Firuzeh's relationship, the text suggests that they are and were best friends, but when Veronica asks if Nisrin's stress is in part to the cute girl she was staring down, I was curious too if there was more to their relationship.  A lot seems to happen between the attack and Nisrin starting to wear hijab and I wish we were allowed inside Nisrin's head to know how she feels about her mom, her nana, starting high school, her attack, her desire to wear hijab, it seems a bit rushed.  Which is odd since, the story spends a few pages detailing when Nisrin feels like everyone hates her after Nani picks her up on the first day of school and Nani points out that not everyone hates her, the squirrels don't, and the dogs don't, etc..  It seems really childish for the incredible ordeal she has been through.

I like the informative section at the end about Bangledesh. I wish the book would have shared some of what Nisrin learned about Islam in her own research, she goes to the mosque, but doesn't detail if she plans to pray regularly, fast, etc..

FLAGS:
Language, violence, war imagery, rape mentioned, assault.

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I don't know that this would work for a middle school book club at an Islamic School, graphic novels are often to quick of reads, but I have a few friends from Bangladesh and I really want them, and their daughters, to read it and clue me in to what I am missing, their view of independence and their impression of the book.

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin's Hijab tells the story of Nisrin. She is attacked at school for wearing a hijab. This started her journey to learn more about her culture and family. I enjoyed that the author included the history of Bangladesh. I think that helped Nisrin (and the reader) learn more about her parents and what is important to her. This is an emotional tale and will lead to important conversations with readers. While the arc I had was in black and white, I will like seeing the full color version when it is released.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy, albeit black-and-white. This graphic novel is about so much more than hijab. It ties together Bangladeshi culture, history, and family to religion and identity. The diversity of Muslims and their religiosity is also shown. Any middle school aged girl would identify with the friendship and parental drama. I appreciated that this is a clean book and is also educational, with the report at the end. I would recommend this title to our school library.

Nisrin is attacked for wearing an hijab, while coming home one day from middle school. The thing is, at that point, she was just wearing it to show how it looked. She had not considered wearing it daily at that point.

In the summer she takes to recover, she realizes that she wants to start wearing sit full time, and discovers that her teacher, and her classmates hate her for it, and prejudge her, and treat her poorly, and yet, she persists.

Even her mother and grandparents do not understand why she would want to wear it. But in talking to her cousins, and in reasearching Islam, she realizes that she feels closer to god, and so continues, no matter how much hate she gets.

This is a heart breaking story, not the author’s story, but she says she relates to a lot of it.

Good book to show the other side, from the standard white male point of view.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>