Does My Head Look Big in This?

by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Does My Head Look Big in This?, which is the last book I'm rereading for my school project, is about an Australian Muslim girl who decides to wear her hijab (head scarf) full time. Here's what I like about the book (and why I decided to use it at school):

• I think it can help kids (especially kids from this part of the country) see that Muslims are real people. It's not overly religious, but it does give a glimpse into the life of a Muslim teen.
• It has lots of cultural references (Sex in the City, Friends, Starbucks), which I think will help make it more accessible to kids.
• It's an enjoyable read.

Here's what I think are some weaknesses:

• It's unnecessarily long--over 300 pages. Now I have nothing against long books if they need to be long to cover everything, or if they suck you in so that you don't even realize the book is that long, but this book could have been edited.
• Some of the minor characters are pretty one-dimensional.
  
• Some of the dialogue is awkward.

Other than that, it's a pretty good book.