Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Mairi

Nazia's friends think she is nothing more than a good beti, a dutiful daughter, but Nazia has a fiery spirit despite her dedication to her mother. When her father is in an accident, however, Nazia finds that being a beti requires more than just her being respectful to her mother- it may require her to sacrifice her future. 

Book on foreign (and by "foreign", we mean "Middle Eastern") cultures make up a ridiculously large portion of the YA genre, for reasons that I'm sure someone will write a thesis on some day. This book, however, stands out as being a cut above the rest, perhaps because it doesn't try to showcase another culture so much as to analyze the relationship of a mother and her daughter- something all girls can relate to.

Despite that, though, this isn't a "girly" book- it has plenty of appeal for both genders.