Young Adult Fiction

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel - Fattah Abdel – Fattah, R. (2006). Ten Things I Hate About Me. Australia: Pan MacMillan Australia Jamilah or Jamie as she prefers to be known at school is 16 years old and living two completely different lives. At home she is Jamilah, a brown eyed Muslim girl who has a strict (but caring) father; she attends Madrassa, and enjoys the traditional Lebanese food and loud conversations that are constant in her home. At school she is Jamie, a blonde haired and blue eyed (thanks to contact lenses) student who does not reveal any of her cultural heritage and background to even her closest friends at school. She is desperate to be just a typical Australian girl that is not different in any way from her classmates. Jamiliah then finds a boy that she can reveal herself to and be completely honest with in an online chat forum and finds huge relief in these conversations. This relationship grows throughout the story as does Jamilah’s journey and discovery about her relationships with her siblings, father, and friends. As Jamilah gains confidence in whom she is and starts to realize who she wants to be, she agrees to perform traditional Lebanese music at her school dance and to face her classmates as the Lebanese – Australian girl that she is. Randa Abdel – Fattah describes the dynamic relationships that Jamilah has with her family, friends and teachers with humour, insight and delicacy. Teenage girls will thoroughly enjoy this story as it explores issues of racism, fitting in, romance and relationships with depth and in way that teenagers will easily relate to.