Does My Head Look Big in This?

Does My Head Look Big In This?
Author(s)	Randa Abdel-Fattah
Country	Australia
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's literature
Publisher	Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
Publication date	1 August 2005
Media type	Print Paperback
Pages	348
ISBN	0439919479
OCLC Number	74648918
LC Classification	PZ7.A15892 Doe 2007

Does My Head Look Big In This? is the first novel by author Randa Abdel-Fattah. It was released in Australia, by Pan MacMillan Australia, on the 1 August 2005. It won the Australian Book Industry Award for Australian Book of The Year Award for older children.^[1]

The plot involves a sixteen-year-old girl who decides to adopt the Muslim custom of hijab dress, with varying reactions from her family and peers.

Plot

Amal Mohamed Nasrullah Abdel-Hakim is a sixteen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim girl living in Melbourne with her mom and dad. She has green-blue eyes and brown hair. Her father Mohamed drives a metallic-red convertible because he is convinced that he is still young and cool, he fails to remember that he has a receding hairline, and he blasts Italian opera or 'Palestinian Folk' songs from his car stereo system. Her mom's name is Jamila, which means beautiful in Arabic. She is loud, fun and energetic, loves to laugh, and is neurotically clean. For example, she dusts extension cords, keeps the house immaculate, and throws a fit if there is even a meager amount of dust.

Amal likes her friends (Simone, Eileen, Leila and Yasmeen) and values their friendship. Her religion is Islam; she has a lot of respect for her religion and thinks highly of it. At the start of the novel, Amal makes a choice which involves wearing the hijab (the head scarf) 'full' time. After four days of thinking about this decision, she decides to go ahead with it and wear the hijab.

Her friends have a lot of issues too; Simone has serious body image problems and is constantly going on ridiculous diets and such. Eileen puts up with racism due to her Japanese heritage. Leila's parents dismiss her amazing school marks and are always trying to find her a suitor to marry, and Yasmeen is a slight shop-o-holic.

Near the beginning of the text, Amal talks about Adam as her friend. Towards the end of the text she finds out that Adam likes her and he tries to kiss her at his birthday party, but instead of following her heart she follows her head and her religion. Amal is a good friend to most people in the text except for three stuck-up girls. At a vulnerable moment in the toilets, Amal runs into Tia, Claire and Rita, after a little 'bad' talk about everything wrong with Amal. The relationship between these three girls and Amal is anything but friendly. It is a story about a young girl's hardships as she must learn to figure out her relationship with Adam, and to learn about herself.

Also during this story, Amal has to deal with a lot of pressure and the importance of understanding other people's views, such as when her friend Leila gets fed up with her mother, Gulchin's, marriage set-ups and runs away. Amal has to deal with Leila's frustration over the fact that her mother is not practising her religion correctly ( in fact, Leila's mom doesn't even read the Qu'ran, her ' religion' is more of her culture and beliefs) and Leila's mother's beliefs. Amal also has an aunt and uncle that are totally "Aussie" and do not follow Amal's religion at all, and question why she follows it. Amal must also deal with a cranky Greek neighbor who has stopped talking to her only son because he converted. Amal becomes good friends with her and tries to coax her to talk to her son after many years of silence.

In the end of the story, Amal realizes it is the different and imperfect immigrants who are her friends and family and who have shaped who she is and who she will become in the future.

Other Characters

Leila Okulgen

Leila has middle-length dark brown hair, deep brown eyes with 'a jungle with brown eyelashes' and is average height and weight. Her mother, Gulchin, is over-strict and loves Leila's (obnoxious) brother, Hakan, but feels disappointment in her, and thinks that Leila's dreams of becoming a lawyer are impossible and shameful, since criminal justice work are ' unfitting for a girl'. Leila gets upset and runs away for two months to a woman's shelter in the city. In the end, her mother loosens up and stops trying to set her up. Leila wears the hijab as a 'full-timer.' Leila ran away to prove to her mother that she had been too harsh on her. While she was gone everyone was really worried and upset. One day she rings up Amal and tells her she is really sad and wants to come home. She goes to Amal's house and they talk. Finally she works up the courage to go home and talk to her mum.

Yasmeen Khan

Yasmeen has long, waist length curly brown hair which she's obsessed with straightening, brown eyes and is average height and weight. She is white with a ton of freckles, like her mother. Her mother's name is Cassandra, who's British. When in public, Yasmeen likes to pretend her name's Jasmine because she thinks it's more 'exotic'. At Hidaya, where she, Leila, and Amal attended from 7th-10th grade, she always got in trouble for letting her hair out of the bottom of her hijab. Yasmeen doesn't wear the hijab full time, and attends school with Leila.

Simone

Simone is one of Amal's friends at McClean's. Her mother is desperate for her to lose weight and have a boyfriend and be "normal". Simone is overweight, and tries many diets, including celery and carrot sticks. She is bullied by the Year Eleven bully, Tia Tamos about her weight. She gets discouraged easily, and has a low self-esteem. She takes up smoking after hearing from Tia that it stops your cravings. However, she stops smoking after beginning a romantic relationship with Josh.

Eileen Tanaka

Eileen is a Japanese girl, who, along with Simone, is one of Amal's two best friends at McClean's. She is forever trying to tell Simone that she is not fat, and to give up smoking. Eileen previously studied Japanese dance when everybody else was doing ballet or something else. Unlike Simone and Amal, Eileen never comes close to having a romantic relationship.

Adam Keane

Adam is also one of Amal's friends at McClean's. During a chemistry lesson, when she was partnered with Adam, Amal began a long lasting crush on him. Amal and Adam enjoyed their comradeship, and occasionally they flirt. They had several conversations on the phone while watching TV, and also lengthy MSN chat sessions. Adam attempted to hook up with Amal at a party, thinking that Amal also liked him (which was true) but Amal rejected his advances, choosing to stand by her religion. After this incident, Amal's and Adam's friendship ended, but was rekindled during a lesson and although it won't be the same as before Amal is still grateful that her and Adam are friends, again.

Josh Goldberg

Josh is another one of Amal's friends at McClean's, Simone (one of Amal's best friends at McClean's) is Josh's love interest. He first comes across Simone when she is doing an impersonation of a teacher, and after a long time of flirting and friendship, and then Josh asks Simone out and they begin their romantic relationship. Josh is firm friends with Amal, and they have a fun time together. Adam and Josh are close friends, and probably best friends.

Tia Tamos

Tia is Amal's worst enemy. Although Tia is beautiful, with ' cat green eyes and black hair', she is mean. The two often have brutal stand offs where they verbally abuse each other. Tia, as well as Amal, is debating for the school. Tia is the "Drama-Queen type, she plays the role of the over-exaggerator and tends to bully Amal, even though Amal makes come-backs Tia still continues this. Tia is a prejudiced, racist bully who will pounce on anybody misfitting, ugly, or non white- she also makes rude comments about Simone's obesity and the fact that Eileen's Japanese.

Claire Foster and Rita Mason

Tia's followers, who abide by everything she says and does.

References

1. ^ Chandab, Taghred (2006-11-05). "Lifting the veil on the Islam experience". The Sun-Herald.