Synopsis
The slide opened and I heard a gentle, kind voice: What is your confession, my child?
I was stuffed. The Priest would declare me a heretic; my parents would call me a traitor…
The Priest asked me again: What is your confession, my child?
I'm Muslim. I whispered.
Welcome to my world. I'm Amal Abdel-Hakim, a seventeen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim still trying to come to grips with my various identity hyphens.
Luckily my friends support me, although they've got a few troubles of their own. Simone, blonde, gorgeous and overweight – she's got serious image issues, and Leila's really intelligent but her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than her high school certificate!
And I thought I had problems…
Novel Awards
Winner - Australian Book Industry Awards 2006 - Australian Book of the Year for Older Children
Notable Book - Selected as a Notable Book by the Children's Book Council 2006
Long listed for the UK Galaxy Book Awards 2006
Short listed for the Grampian Children’s Book Awards UK 2006