BIBLIOGRAPHY

Saeed, Aisha. Amal Unbound. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-399-54468-2.

PLOT SUMMARY:  Amal is a twelve-year-old who loves to learn and hopes to become a teacher one day.  As the eldest daughter, Amal must stop attending school to help with the house chores after her mom has a hard timer recuperating after her delivery.  One day, on her back home from the market, Amal has an incident that changes her life drastically.  After insulting Jawad Sahib, the village’s powerful landlord’s son, Amal must leave her beloved family and go to the Khan’s estate as a servant.  Amal with other servants takes a big risk to win their freedom as well as free their village from the control of the Khan family. 

ANALYSIS: Amal is a twelve-year-old Pakistani girl who has many dreams.  She is very studious and loves to learn new things.  She considers many of things unfair such as not being able to spend time with her good friend Omar, people frowning over girls riding bicycles and not being able to go to school because she is the oldest daughter and needs to help with the household chores.  She starts questioning if being a girl is a bad thing when her mother has another baby and suffers through depression for having a girl instead of a boy. 

SETTING:  The story takes place in the small village of Punjab, Pakistan.  Amal’s family is one of the most prosperous in the village therefore their house is bigger than the other houses.  Compared to the smaller houses in the village the Khan family’s house is very immense.  The power that they have over the villagers is evident as one can see the disparities between the way of life.

THEME:  The various themes covered in this book are education, courage and gender discrimination.  The author presents how Amal enjoys learning, wants to have an education to become a teacher. Even when she stops going to school, Amal finds ways to continue learning by reading books.  Amal is courageous when she takes a risk for her freedom as well as for her village in going against the Khan family by sharing what they have done and asking for help to the instructor she has befriended in the literacy center.  Gender discrimination is presented by showing how males are preferred in families and have more freedoms and opportunities than females. 

CULTURAL MARKERS:  

Authenticity in description of the diversity within the book.

The author does a very good job showing how the culture in Pakistan is.  The different roles of men and women in the family are presented.  The clothing of women to include the chador is mentioned.  There is a variety of foods that are prepared throughout the story.  Some of the beliefs shared in the book were that unmarried girls are not allowed in the birthing area, people frowning over girls riding bicycles and how Amal’s mother not naming her girls until they were one year old when she knew they would survive. 

Author’s qualifications: 

The author Aisha Saeed is Pakistani American and is one of the founders of We Need Diverse Books Campaign. 

CONNECTIONS:

Personal Response

1. List and describe 3-5 things you can do to create positive change in your local community.

2. Amal dreams of becoming a teacher when she grows up. What are your dreams? What can you do to make those dreams come true?

3. Amal couldn’t have brought down Jawad Sahib by herself. Who are the people you count on in your life? What are ways they can help you achieve your goals and dreams?

4. Have your parents ever placed expectations on you that felt unfair? Describe the situation and how you either worked through it, or how you could work through it in the future.

5. Amal has a great relationship with both of her teachers, Sadia and Asif. Who are some of your favorite teachers and why?

6. Amal loves to read. She especially loves poems. What sort of books do you enjoy reading most and why?

7. Amal is brave. She does something difficult because it is the right thing to do. What are some ways you have been brave in your life?

8. Nabila is very hostile toward Amal at first. What are her reasons for feeling the way she does toward Amal, and how do her feelings ultimately evolve?

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