Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed Buy the Book • Goodreads
Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal's Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she's busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when--as the eldest daughter--she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn't lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens--after an accidental run-in with the son of her village's corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family's servant to pay off her own family's debt.
Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal--especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal's growing awareness of the Khans' nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.
“Books were what made my days bearable. They were what helped me sleep at night without my homesickness choking me.”
When Amal’s ordinary life in her quiet Pakistani village is disrupted and she is forced to stay home from school to help her mother take of her siblings, Amal holds on to the hope that her dream to become a teacher one day is not dead. When the unthinkable happens, and she is forced to work for her landlord as an indentured servant to pay for her disrespectful behavior, her dreams and freedom seem to blow up in smoke forever.
I love Aisha Saeed. This is the second book that I have read by her. Her voice is authentic and her storytelling holds so much power that her books are often impossible to put down. In a world where girls are still being held from school, where their education is never an option, books such as this, give us an insight to life in other countries. Books like this show us the treatment toward girls in some parts of the world and help to reiterate just how important it is for girls around the world to be given the right to an education. Amal Unbound is a story about a brave girl, whose love and passion to learn helped her in her darkest of days. It is a book of courage, hope and understanding.
