and the novel
Beneath My Mother's Feet
................Beneath My Mother's Feet...........main page
Local Calendar - all events not listed:
7/29/08 - 7pm. Mother & Daughter Bookclub @ Tartan Fields in Dublin, Ohio [private]
8/9/08 - 1pm @ Easton Barnes & Noble Columbus, Ohio.
8/30-31/08 ISNA Annual Conference @ Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio.
9/11/08 - 7:30pm. Bookclub @ Muirfield, Dublin, Ohio [private].
9/20/08 - India Festival @ Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio.
10/09/08 - Ballymead Bookclub, Dublin, Ohio [private].
10/23/08 - 4:30-7pm OELMA (Ohio Educational Library Media Association) Conference Authorpalooza @ Columbus Convention Center, Junior Library Guild Booth, Columbus, Ohio.
10/25/08 - 1:30-3pm Booksigning @ Cover To Cover, an independent bookstore in Clintonville, Ohio.
11/1/08 - Buckeye Book Fair @ Wooster, Ohio.
11/8-9/08 - UN International Festival @ Veterans Memorial Center, Columbus, Ohio.
2/21/09 - Dublin Literacy Conference @ Dublin, Ohio.
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Critic Reviews:
"...Reminiscent of Suzanne Fisher Staples's Shabanu (1989), this beautifully written depiction of life in modern Pakistan offers readers a painful and stirring view of a girl with limited choices but great inner strength."
--Kirkus Reviews (STARRED)
"...This is a book you must read, and Amjed Qamar is a new author to keep your eyes on...This is a well-paced story filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and flavors of a variety of levels of status in modern Pakistani culture. However, Nazia's struggle to choose her own path in life is, at its core, the common story of every girl on the brink of her future, every girl who must break her mother's heart by choosing a way of her own and not the one her mother has hoped and planned for all her life."
--Mary Lee Hahn, A Year of Reading
CLICK HERE TO READ AN INTERVIEW
by teacher and blogger, Mary Lee Hahn, at A Year of Reading.
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Available for purchase at:
www.BookSense.com
www.simonsays.com
Powell's Books
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
KIRKUS REVIEWS (STARRED REVIEW)
A JUNIOR LIBRARY
GUILD SELECTION
BARNES & NOBLE
DISCOVER GREAT NEW WRITERS PICK
B&N Booksellers found debut author Amjed Qamar to be one of fifteen great new writers worth discovering for Fall 2008!
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ABOUT THE BOOK
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Nazia
cannot let her family starve, but can she sacrifice her future?
Nazia is an average, modern-day fourteen-year-old Pakistani girl. She attends school, she hangs out with
friends, and she’s getting ready for an arranged marriage. When her father is injured
at work, the family suddenly find themselves without money for rent or food,
and Nazia is forced to drop out of school to become a maid. As Nazia finds herself growing up much too
quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more
liberating than she ever imagined.
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Reader Reviews:
"...Nazia
is my hero. I am going to read this book out loud to my girls.
Honestly, I couldn't put this book down. I love her character. I felt
so sorry for her, happy for her, proud of her, sad for her.... I want
the sequel! Is she for real? I love this girl. I am so
proud of
her for being the strong girl she became throughout the book. She was
her mother's daughter, her own person. I loved how dutiful she was but
also became her own person. I am also so interested in Pakistani
culture and how it is somewhat like American in some ways. The women I
mean, we all are suffering the same. Men are the same in many cultures
and religions. Very interesting..."
I want a sequel.
--Martha
"...I thought it is well written. I was so involved in the characters...."
--Hena
"Love
a story that can vividly take you on location? This book will
completely envelope every sense, to the point that you can smell the
hint of mustard oil, feel the scorching sun of Karachi, Pakistan. This
story completely pulls you into the life of Nazia and her family. An
excellent read! "
--M. Elkins (Amazon)
Amjed Qamar's MySpace
