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Perfect for readers who want:
- Fast-paced, world-threatening sort of action adventure
- Adorable sibling bonds (and arguments!)
- Science and nerdiness mixed with magic and action
- A world based on Islamic folklore
- Some really interesting, unexpected creatures and characters
- Lots of sarcasm and humor
Many thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and TBR & Beyond Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I am all about these diverse middle grade adventures that seem to be booming right now. So when I saw one based on Islamic folklore and legend, I was 100% going to jump on that. It’s something I haven’t seen before and something I don’t know as much about, so heck yes! Plus, not gonna lie, I read the first two pages and really enjoyed the slightly snarky narrative style.
The Amira & Hamza series blends science with Islamic legend and folklore in a fast-paced adventure filled with relatable characters, humor, sibling bonds (and rivalry), and lots of exciting creatures and places.
I had a lot of fun with these books! The folklore is intriguing, as are the creatures, and like nothing I’ve ever seen. I absolutely love jinn in books, and this was no exception. This makes for a nice middle-of-the-road middle grade book. The writing and conflict is a bit more simplistic, with large font, even though the page length is a bit longer. Some of the conflicts were resolved kind of easy, but that’s not unexpected. I sure hope there will be more in this series, because I’ve enjoyed adventuring with Amira and Hamza!
Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds
by Samira Ahmedon September 21, 2021
Genres: Middle Grade, Adventure, Fantasy
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Rating:
On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, twelve-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world—literally.
Suddenly, day turns to night, everyone around Amira and Hamza falls under a sleep spell, and a chunk of the moon breaks off, hurtling toward them at lightning speed, as they come face-to-face with two otherworldly creatures: jinn.
The jinn reveal that the siblings have a role to play in an ancient prophecy. Together, they must journey to the mystical land of Qaf, battle a great evil, and end a civil war to prevent the moon—the stopper between realms—from breaking apart and unleashing terrifying jinn, devs, and ghuls onto earth. Or they might have to say goodbye to their parents and life as they know it, forever.…
Meet Amira and Hamza, who aren’t technically to blame for the moon splitting apart and crashing towards Earth . . . but they’re not exactly helping, either.
So if you’re wondering if there are stakes in this book . . . yes. Rather big, end-of-world, cataclysmic type stakes. Which you might argue is a lot for a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old to handle, and yes, Amira and Hamza would definitely agree with you there.
The conflict in this is actually worse than just the moon splitting apart (as if that wasn’t bad enough). The moon is actually a prison for a really powerful jinn (magical beings made of a smokeless flame) whose son is currently trying to stage a prison break, as it were. Large stakes, bad baddies . . . what more could anyone ask of an adventure book?!
A piece of the moon has cracked and is drifting away. It looks like it’s moving at a snail’s pace, but I know being able to see it move like that at all means it’s hurtling through the sky, growing bigger. God, it’s heading toward us. My eyes lock on the jagged puzzle piece of lunar rock, its edges slashing the night and making it bleed stars.
Enter a world of jinn, filled with magic and danger and all sorts of interesting creatures.
I am a sucker for any and all books that involve jinn, in any and all incarnations of them. I’ve been fascinated by the folklore behind them since I first heard it, especially since everyone interprets it slightly differently in fiction. So I wasn’t at all disappointed to read Ahmed’s interpretation. In this world, jinn can be good or bad, just like people. Unlike people, they also possess magic. Oh, yeah, and they’re sort of made of fire.
While the book doesn’t dive too deep into the world of jinn, it’s just enough to dip your toes into. It’s filled with magical creatures (most of which you probably won’t expect, so I won’t ruin it for you), among other things. It’s a rather interesting world that I was sad to leave when the book ended.
Amira and Hamza aren’t the heroes we need, but . . . well, they’re the heroes they have. And they’ll make it work. Somehow. Probably.
Amira has her logic and sub-part (if we’re honest) karate skills, which serve her pretty well. Especially her penchant for science, which helps her solve more than one predicament they’re able to get into. Hamza, while not so great on the “thinking things through” tactic, is brave and doesn’t hesitate to get the job done. Together, they’re an unlikely pair of heroes, but it’s not like they could really say no (they asked).
While there are certainly unbelievable moments in terms of the kids’ abilities, nothing that was too far-fetched for this sort of middle grade book. What I particularly enjoyed are all the little ways they mess up or make mistakes, because saving the world is a big, dirty job and they’re ill-prepared for it. I enjoyed the little bit of realism in that, especially knowing that everything doesn’t always go the way they plan it to.
This world is based on Islamic and Middle Eastern mythology, folklore, and legend, which is super interesting if you’ve never been exposed to it before.
From the idea of jinn (and even different types of jinn) to the Urdu language, Rumi, and plenty of other concepts, this book will introduce the reader to some of the finer parts of Islamic and Middle Eastern culture. I was already familiar with some of it, but I found the rest incredibly interesting! It’s not something I see a ton of outside of contemporary middle grade, so having the chance to interact with the culture through an adventure fantasy was exciting!
“Ahhhhh!” I scream at the screen. “For once, use words that tell us something useful. That mean anything!” I bury my face in my hands. My eyes sting with tears. This is stupid and useless. I’m stupid and useless.
“Hey, look,” Hamza says.
I bling away a tear and turn back to the tablet: Fine. Just get on the horse.
“Wow. The tablet can be snarky. I wonder how they coded that into its program?”
Amira Hamza: The Quest for the Ring of Power
by Samira Ahmedon September 20, 2022
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Adventure
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating:
Amira and Hamza are back in this epic sequel, which takes readers on a thrilling magical adventure as the siblings face their most terrifying and formidable opponent yet.
All human and jinn kind shall bow down to me. Control the Ring, control the worlds.
Amira and Hamza have returned from Qaf, the magical Jinn world, as triumphant heroes—and life has been pleasantly quiet. Too quiet. Hamza is determined to have one last monumental, epic adventure before summer ends. But when sneaking off to explore an old, abandoned castle goes from life-changing adventure to potentially deadly, Amira and Hamza find themselves in the middle of another dangerous quest to save the worlds. One they didn’t bargain for.
The siblings are brought face to face with the evil dev, Ahriman, angry and out for revenge. And if Amira and Hamza thought Ifrit was bad, his dad Ahriman, the last in an ancient line of fire spirits, is far worse. Ahriman kidnaps Hamza and forces him to help locate the lost Ring of Power, an ancient and mysterious artifact that will allow him to rule the universe. Desperate to save her brother, Amira must outsmart perilous traps and confounding puzzles in a race against time to retrieve the artifact before Ahriman does or say goodbye to Hamza and their world forever.
This sequel is told from two perspectives, both Amira’s and Hamza’s, and it’s about 1,000% funnier than the first because Hamza is a typical 10-year-old and his perspective absolutely cracks me up.
I could see how Hamza’s point of view might frustrate some readers, especially older readers, because he’s immature. I mean, he’s 10, so . . . duh. However, he’s still got that weird self-assurance of kids that age, and he’s also easily distract (which I can relate to). So I absolutely loved to addition of his narrative. He’s snarky, but not in a mean-hearted manner. It’s just how he copes with the extremely stressful situation he finds himself in. You know, being kidnapped by a jinn bent on revenge would raise anyone’s blood pressure. Especially since, this time, Hamza doesn’t have his sister there to encourage him.
As much as the siblings learned to get along better in the first book, they’re still . . . well . . . siblings. They have their squabbles, but at the end of the day, they also have each other’s backs.
I absolutely love sibling bonds in books, and this is no exception! When things heat up, of course Amira and Hanza are there for each other and support each other. But the rest of the time? Well, they behave just like siblings, with their small squabbles and disagreements and arguments. It cracked me up and reminded me of how I used to act with my siblings!
“We rode through a dragon’s mouth, defeated Ifrit, who was way more muscular than both us, by the way, and, oh, we also saved the entire universe! If we’re not superheroes, what would you call us then?”
“I actually have lots of names I call you,” I deadpan.
“I’m so telling Mom.”
If you thought the moon crashing to Earth wasn’t a big enough threat, how about an even bigger, badder jinn bent on destroying the world?
By which I mean, the Big Bad in this book is the father of the Big Bad in the last book. Which makes him the OG Big Bad, Bigger and Badder. He’s not beating around bushes or messing around. In case you don’t remember, he was imprisoned in the moon, and they don’t do that for just anyone. Actually, he’s the only one that received that sentence, so you know he’s not a team player.
While the threat is greater than the last book (arguably, at least), the tension was much lower. I think a lot of this was to do with Hamza’s funny, often flippant, perspective, which sometimes made it hard to take the villain seriously. Which is not a bad thing at all! I’ve noticed a lot of our most popular books at the library doing this, and I think it works well in middle grade.
About Samira Ahmed
Samira Ahmed is the bestselling author of Love, Hate & Other Filters, Internment, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, and Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds, as well as a Ms. Marvel comic book mini-series. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies including the New York Times, Take the Mic, Color Outside the Lines, Vampires Never Get Old and A Universe of Wishes.
She was born in Bombay, India, and grew up in Batavia, Illinois, in a house that smelled like fried onions, spices, and potpourri. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Samira has taught high school English in both the suburbs of Chicago and New York City, worked in education non-profits, and spent time on the road for political campaigns.
Samira currently lives in the Midwest. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found on her lifelong quest for the perfect pastry.
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I didn’t realize this book is based on Islamic and Middle Eastern mythology, that makes it even more intriguing for me.
Wendy recently posted…Book Review: Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan
yes! It was super interesting and lots of fun.
I don’t think I’d heard of this series before, but it sounds amazing. Your review made me laugh!
Briana @ Pages Unbound recently posted…10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of the Public Library
The first book was more serious, but book two was really funny! I highly recommend this series. As I said, it’s a little on the simpler side in some ways in terms of reading ability/age group, but it was a really fun read.