All-American Muslim Girl

With her fair skin and strawberry blond hair, Allie doesn't really look like a Muslim to outsiders.  Her Circassion Jordanian father grew up in an Islamic family speaking Arabic, but he no longer has faith in his family's religion.  Her American mother is ambivalent toward the faith even though she converted when she married. 

Allie was raised without religion, but after an awkward incident on an airplane where she has to play the placating white girl to reassure everyone her brown-skinned Arabic speaking father isn't a terrorist, she's had enough.  Why should she hide her religion?  It's been the faith of her family for generations, and her father's refusal to teach her Arabic has left her feeling like an outsider to the world at large and to her family in particular.

She knows her father wouldn't approve, but Allie joins a Koran study group and starts learning on her own.  Her father isn't the only problem.  What would her friends say if they knew the truth? 

There's also the matter of Wells Henderson who is adorable, kind, and quickly making his way into Allie's heart.  Allie is already falling for him before she realizes his father is Jack Henderson, the most popular conservative radio host in America.  Jack Henderson makes money from racism and Islamaphobia, and Allie is crushing on his son.

Nadine Jolie Courtney's book is a gentle story about a girl figuring out her own identity.  Muslim readers will see themselves in her struggle, but readers of other faiths will see themselves here, as well.  Allie deftly navigates her way through family history, cultural identity, and modern American life.  She does seem a bit wise for her age at times, but I would definitely recommend this book, and anyone who is willing to spend time here will come away better.