mouseofmystery.bsky.social

Ooof, I did not like this book. I know it’s a kids book and maybe kids would like it better, but I found the Amira and Hamza annoying. They were both so pedantic and sarcastic and it was told in a first person perspective from Amira’s point of view so I pretty much never got a break. It reminded me of how people who don’t like Buffy the Vampire Slayer describe the dialogue in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Everything was jokey and too-clever-by-half in a way that took away from the drama of the situation; and at least Buffy’s jokes were funny. This book was not. But, again, maybe someone in the age range this book is intended for will like it more. I remember being sarcastic and pedantic when I was that age. Something I did like were the Chicago references. Although most of the book isn’t set in Chicago, Amira and Hamza are from Chicago so they reference it throughout the story. The opening chapter takes place in the Medinah Temple, which is only a few blocks away from where I live. And they reference other fun Chicago things like the Adler Planetarium and how parts of downtown smell like chocolate.

This book was a real pleasure. I should read more modern fiction because it’s so fun and so easy to read. This book is about a computer programmer named Alif living in the Middle East. Alif isn’t his real name, it’s his online handle. He works by helping various kinds of people avoid being detected by the oppressive government online. The story starts with him being broken up with and shortly after that the girl who broke up with him sent him a mysterious book called the Alf Yeom. Shortly after getting this book, he realizes that the government is after him. While on the run, he learns that the Alf Yeom was written by jinn and another name for it is A Thousand and One Days. It’s a jinn parallel to the classic book A Thousand and One Nights. The book explores themes on the nature of fiction and makes comparisons between stories and the digital, a comparison that I first remember hearing in the 4th season of Digimon. The was also a character in the book who was pretty much a fictionalized version of the author. The story didn’t always present her in the most positive light, which was fun. I definitely recommend this book.

This one was a mixed bag for me. It was filled with a lot of great tips and advice for teachers and I’m definitely glad that I read it, but I think it put too much of the blame for America’s education system on teachers. Obviously, there are ways that American teachers could use more effective strategies that would benefit students, but even if teachers were absolutely perfect, our schools would still have problems if our country refuses to do anything about poverty, housing, lack of healthcare, etc. and it’s not like teaching strategies are the only problems that teachers have any control over, through collective action, like strikes and protests, we can demand policy changes that can solve those problems. But if the author didn’t want to talk about those problems or solutions that’s fine. It could have just been a book filled with the great advice that it did have. He didn’t need to spend so much time blaming teachers for America’s flaws.