Sadia

Fifteen-year-old Sadia Ahmadi, a Muslim immigrant from Syria, learns that young voices can still be powerful in Nelson’s story about being loyal to one’s beliefs. After living for three years in Winnipeg with her family (“We’d left Syria just before things went haywire”), Sadia is well-adjusted and happy, but she is constantly reminded that she’s an outsider, and her freshman year brings many challenges. Sadia’s best friend Nazreen, who is also Muslim, starts “de-jabbing” (removing her hijab) and changing into revealing clothes at school; the distance between the girls increases after they learn that they both have a crush on the same guy and Sadia befriends new student Amira, a refugee from Syria. Sadia is thrilled to make the basketball team, but she’s hindered by her hijab on the court, and she may not be able to play in an upcoming tournament if she doesn’t remove it. The characters can be somewhat one-dimensional, but Nelson (Blood Brothers) writes compellingly about Sadia’s passion for basketball, her evolving friendship with Nazreen, and the way that Amira forces her to confront the current state of affairs in Syria. Ages 12–up. (Feb.) Correction: An earlier version of this review misspelled the protagonist's name in one instance.