About the Book:
In the hilarious and poignant graphic novel follow-up to National Book Award finalist Huda F Cares?, Huda’s life and worldview is turned upside down when her parents announce they’re divorcing.
Huda Fahmy is ready for junior year. She’s got a plan to join all the clubs, volunteer everywhere, ace the ACTs, write the most awe-inspiring essay for her scholarship applications. Easy.
But then Mama and Baba announce the most unthinkable news: they’re getting a divorce.
Huda is devastated. She worries about what this will mean for her family, their place in the Muslim community, and her future. Her grades start tanking, she has a big fight with her best friend, and everything feels out of control. Will her life ever feel normal again? Huda F wants to know.
*Review Contributed by Olivia Farr, Staff Reviewer*
HUDA F WANTS TO KNOW is an entertaining and approachable graphic novel that tackles some challenging themes. Huda is about to start her junior year, and she has big plans, including getting a scholarship, improving her grades, and focusing on the future. Her plans are thrown for a loop when her parents share some big news – they are getting a divorce.
Huda decides to deal with this problem by ignoring it. Meanwhile, none of her other plans are going the way she wanted them to, and she finds herself lashing out at the people around her, including her BFF. She also has a big crush on a guy and is thinking about relationships for the future (although this guy does not seem to know she exists). There is a lot going on, so when people talk about mental health, Huda needs to put aside her preconceived notions to consider how she will handle her own.
What I loved: This is a super approachable and quick read that moves fast. Huda has a lot going on in her junior year – and her determination will only take her so far when she is determined to ignore the bigger issues going on. A major focus of the book is on grief/denial and mental health. This is done well through several conversations with a therapist, with her best friend, and with herself later on. These discussions were really powerful to talk about the way mental health can be stigmatized and why it matters, as well as how to handle it.
Beyond that, the big news was the divorce and how she and her sisters are handling it. They each have their own ways, but it weighs on all of them. Divorce is not an uncommon occurrence and having the book discuss it and the ways it can make someone feel is powerful for kids going through it on their own. Combined with a bit of humor and relatable characters, this works very well for the intended teen audience.
Themes of family were also strong throughout, and I appreciated the way she interacts with her mother near the end of the story, connecting and growing. Her mother is very wise, and these conversations were really strong. Similarly, her connections with her sisters, though sometimes interrupted by her focus on self, were also lovely, and I loved seeing a family that is so strong – even when it gets a jolt by news like this.
The book moves quickly without any text density, which works well as a graphic novel. Context clues really help to fill in the blanks around the dialogue, as do her shoulder entities that debate her life and decisions. It makes for an engaging and fun experience. I would recommend having read the earlier books in the series before this one, as it leaps right into the action without a lot of personal context to the family, other characters, etc.
What left me wanting more: As a small thing, the flow of panels was not always clear, especially when they intended to go down and then over, which interrupts the flow of the story on those pages.
Final verdict: HUDA F WANTS TO KNOW is an engaging graphic novel that combines humor, humility, and important themes to entertain readers while giving them some bigger thoughts to chew on.
*Find More Info & Buy This Book HERE!*
