The Button Box by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams || Heartwarming Tale of History and Family

The Button Box

If a magical button and a mysterious cat could transport you to the past...would you save the future?After Jewish fifth-grader Ava and her Muslim cousin Nadeem are called hateful names at school, Granny Buena rummages in her closet and pulls out a glittering crystal button box. It's packed with buttons that generations of their Sephardic ancestors have cherished. With the help of Granny's mysterious cat Sheba, Ava and Nadeem discover that a button from the Button Box will whisk them back in time. Suddenly, they find themselves in ancient Morocco, where Nadeem's ancestor, Prince Abdur Rahman, is running for his life. Can Ava and Nadeem help the prince escape to Spain and fulfill his destiny, creating a legendary Golden Age for Muslims, Jews and Christians?

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Perfect for readers who want:

• To experience other cultures and religions, like Islam and Judaism.
• A close-knit family who works together and stands up for each other.
• Time travel into a very vivid past.
• Action and adventure in a historical setting.
• A wonderfully empathy-building story about having pride in your history.

Many thanks to Books Forward and Lerner/Kar-Ben Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished product and may differ from the final version.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book, I absolutely knew I needed to read it! Have I mentioned lately how much I love diverse books? But diverse books that have a story to tell and that make me feel things. So of course The Button Box caught my eye, with two very different cousins who face the same modern problems have to work together to unravel their shared history and understand the beauty in the things they share as well as the things that make them different.

The Button Box is an adorable, heartwarming middle grade story about taking pride in your history. It celebrates family bonds, the differences that exist between us, and all the wonderful things that bring us together.

The story combines Judaism and Islam appreciation and history into one family in a way that is easy for middle graders to dive in and understand. It’s a great introduction for young readers who may not know much about either religion, and the authors weave a lot of history and culture in a way that not only teaches readers but will absolutely grab their attention.

Ava and Nadeem are utterly relatable middle grade characters: two kids just trying to live their best life, faced with bullying at school, who don’t entirely understand their history.

I both love and don’t love the fact that a lot of middle grade readers will likely see themselves in Ava and Nadeem. Because bullying is bad, obviously. Unfortunately, it’s such a common thing that of course a lot of readers will relate to it, even if their bullying isn’t related to their religion, like it is for the cousins.

Part of what I love about how the authors approach this in The Button Box is that they’re not trying to change anyone’s minds about the bullying. Instead, the whole point is to change the protagonists’ perspectives. Bullying happens. It’s an unfortunate facet of life. Instead, Ava and Nadeem are taught the history of their family and why they should be proud in who they are and where they come from. It’s such a powerful message that I don’t see often in middle grade books that involve bullying. Most of those books talk about changing the bully’s mind or pit the bully as the villain, but in The Button Box, the bully is inconsequential and not given the time of day. Ava and Nadeem and the way they respond to the bullying is the most important thing, and that’s a narrative that I’m very fond of.

The Button Box is filled with delightful tidbits of wisdom and snippets of culture that are as fun as they are unique.

First, the children’s grandmother is absolutely full of wise sayings, which I love (even if the children roll their eyes at them, which okay, that’s fair, because don’t we all when our grandparents say weird things). I thought these were super fun, though. And maybe just a teensy bit trick kids into thinking about big concepts in ways they can easily digest and understand? Which I’m also a fan of.

Readers will also learn little bits of other religions and cultures while reading this, which I’m always a fan of! Kids (and adults . . . I speak for myself here, too!) tend to be fascinated with aspects of cultures they aren’t familiar with. I found it really interesting to see the different practices of faith and the different food and such!

This book is an interesting mix of contemporary and historical fiction, as Ava and Nadeem are pulled into the past by a button (because what harm can come from a button, right?!).

Readers will be introduced to ancient Morocco and some bits of culture, both religious and in general, which was very interesting. The authors really transport you to the past and paint a picture of ancient Morocco that was vivid and interesting. It’s a rather interesting time in Morocco, too. Prince Prince Abd al-Rahman (a.k.a. Prince Abdur Rahman) was a real man who brought Islam to Spain and established a kingdom that was safe for Jewish, Muslims, and Christians to live together and prosper.

That’s how the story ends, of course, but where Ava and Nadeem find themselves is in a tumultuous time in the past where the future of Prince Abdur Rahman is in question. He’s currently on the run from those who wish him harm. If he never makes it to Spain, the peaceful era he ushers in will never exist, but if any citizens of Morocco help him, it comes at a great threat to them and their families.

The morals in this are utterly important ones: of history, of belonging, of working together, of doing what’s wrong, and of family.

In short, this book has so many good messages packed into a historical adventure shell. I love when books have powerful messages without sounding preachy, and The Button Box definitely qualifies in that regard. It’s a book that would fit perfectly in classroom shelves and libraries, as it promotes acceptance and understanding, harmony, coexistence . . . and it’s just plain fun. What more could you really ask for?

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