Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--National Book Award--winning Safadi shares her Syrian American heritage with Syrian American actor Younes, who has become the voice-of-choice for Safadi's ongoing chapter book series starring the eponymous Amina. The third grader, recently arrived in Indianapolis with her Syrian family, is finally settling in after multiple moves as refugees. Establishing consistency with each volume--the same narrator, the same intro/outro music--underscores a sense of comforting permanence that young audiences will appreciate as more of Amina and her family's backstory is revealed. Younes, however, isn't an immediately obvious fit, debuting in Book 1 with more whining than winning, her peevish tone exaggerating Amina's understandable nervousness about "American school." Despite the challenges--linguistic, social, cultural--Amina is resilient, determined, ready with tenacious plans to make friends, win the spelling bee in Book 2, contribute financially, to ease her worried parents' struggles in Book 3. Younes eventually taps into her protagonist's strength and becomes a supportive aural enhancement to Amina's youthful vitality. VERDICT Familiarity (eventually) bolsters the ongoing girl power of Safadi's inspiring series.
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