Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I started listening to Maleeha Siddiqui’s Any Way You Look forever ago; I received a copy for review and was considering it for a present for my second girlie, since the main character wants to design modest clothing for Muslim girls and is frustrated at the world’s attitude towards modesty and fashion. (That daughter is the most aware of fashion trends of our household, so I thought it might resonate with her.) I’m not sure why it took me so long to finish, although I imagine the narrator’s lovely accent was part of it. (Accents force me to slow down my audiobook speed and concentrate harder, and that complicates when I can listen.) There’s also the complication of not being a fashionable sort of person myself, however, so I relate less to those for whom fabrics and designs are fascinating. Whatever the reasons, though, I finally picked up the threads (pun not intended, actually) in February and went ahead and finished the book.

Here’s the thing. There’s a lot to like in this book, starting with Ainy’s passion for fashion (I absolutely respect passion, even if I don’t happen to share it) and including her family’s struggles (her dad’s away with a sick family member, and their financial situation has taken a hit) and their focus on overcoming them. Her mom makes beautiful clothes and is determinedly running her business out of a friend’s home at the moment, her sister has a second job, and Ainy herself finally convinces her mother to let her help. That proves more stressful than she anticipates–most first jobs do, right?–and is complicated further by the fact that she’s suddenly too busy to do a lot of the things she and her friend had planned for the summer. Ainy’s biggest worry, however, is the attention she’s receiving from a boy she doesn’t like, and this is the part where I’m assuming there’s a cultural disconnect. The book description talks about behavior that is not okay and the book itself makes it clear that Ainy feels harassed and uncomfortable; from my standpoint, however, that felt like an extreme assessment of the situation. How is asking a girl to sign your yearbook harassment? My own sense of Yasir is that sure, he’s being annoying, but certainly not seriously inappropriate. I honestly felt like Ainy was being rude to a boy because she didn’t like him when he was trying (in an immature young teenage boy sort of way) to be friends. I’m assuming that there are nuances of Muslim (and possibly Pakistani) culture that I don’t understand here. I did appreciate the hijab plot point–is wearing one the answer? Is wanting to avoid unwanted attention a good reason for starting to wear one? What should wearing the hijab mean?–but I’m not sure the catalyst for it will work for readers outside the culture. Thoughts?

On the homefront, I went to the temple this morning and I’m looking forward to a quiet afternoon, which, considering how busy tomorrow will be, is a good thing. I hope y’all have a good weekend!