Wanting Mor [Hardcover]

Rukhsana Khan (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Jameela and her family live in a poor, war-torn village in Afghanistan. Even with her cleft lip and lack of educational opportunities, Jameela feels relatively secure, sustained by her Muslim faith and the love of her mother, Mor. But when Mor dies, Jameela’s father impulsively decides to start a new life in Kabul. Jameela is appalled as he succumbs to alcohol and drugs, then suddenly remarries, a situation that soon has her a virtual slave to a demanding stepmother. After she’s discovered trying to learn to read, Jameela is abandoned in a busy market, eventually landing in an orphanage run by the same army that killed so many members of her family. Throughout it all, the memory of her mother sustains her, giving Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them together again. Inspired by a true story, and set in a world far removed from that of Western readers, this powerful novel reveals that the desire for identity and self-understanding is universal.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In this novel’s heartbreaking opening, a young Afghani girl, Jameela, discovers that her ill mother (Mor) has died in the night. Within a month, her father moves with Jameela to Kabul and marries a widow, who treats Jameela like a slave. When the widow’s son shows interest in Jameela, the widow is furious, and the next morning, Jameela’s father leads her through the dusty maze of Kabul and abandons her on a street corner. Ultimately, Jameela is placed in an orphanage, and her story takes an upward turn as she goes to school and has surgery to correct her deformed lip. Set in 2001, this compelling story is based on real incidents. Jameela’s matter-of-fact, first-person narrative will awaken young readers to life and conditions in Afghanistan. The story is packed with Pushto words that may slow some readers, but a helpful glossary is included. Pair this with The Breadwinner (2001) by Deborah Ellis for a picture of life before the American invasion. Grades 5-8. --Lynn Rutan

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888998589
• ISBN-13: 978-0888998583
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,478,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, August 29, 2009

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wanting Mor (Hardcover)

Jameela had already experienced so much hardship as a youngster living in Afghanistan during the Taliban's stronghold and then the American invasion. She lived in poverty and had no education, she had lost a number of family members to violence and disease, and she had to deal with the inevitable stares when people saw her cleft lip. Then on the most devastating day of all, her mother died after a brief illness. With virtually no time to grieve the loss of her Mor, Jameela was forced to leave the village with her drug-addicted father for the capital city in an ill-conceived plan to find new work.

Life for Jameela in Kabul was grim and dismal as she worked under slave-like conditions, first in a temporary situation and then in the household of a surly woman who her father had suddenly married. The step-mother despised Jameela and instructed her new husband to abandon Jameela in a busy Kabul market. Inexplicably, he complied, and Jameela was left completely and totally alone. Ultimately, it took the kindness of strangers, inspiration from her strong faith, memories of her precious Mor, and the power of an education to turn her life around in the most surprising and ironic of ways.

Wanting Mor stands out as a mesmerizing book with lively characters, heartbreaking plot developments, and incredibly rich cultural content. Jameela's plight is representative of the wide-scale devaluation of the social and economic status of women and girls in Central Asia, which has led to the abandonment and neglect of unwanted girls. Based on a true event, this book provides testament to the depths of the problem and the possibilities for change.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hard world, November 12, 2009

By 

Brent C. Olson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wanting Mor (Hardcover)

We live in a hard old world, even though for many of us that fact is disguised by pleasant surroundings.

And the only thing that gets any of us through is faith, hope and occasionally the kindness of strangers.

5.0 out of 5 stars wow., March 2, 2010

By 

Merida Banks - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wanting Mor (Hardcover)

This book is deeply touching.

It tells the tale of a young girl whose mother recently died, and her father isn't properly taking care of her. She struggles to keep going after her father remarries. She was born with a lip deformity, and she is frightened because she believes she will be teased because of it.

This reveiw is neither good, nor very descriptive, but believe me.

This is a GOOD book.