Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai

Shooting Kabul, by N. H. Senzai.  Simon & Shuster, 2011, 253 pages plus glossary and author note.

Reading level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: Ages 10-12

Bottom line: Shooting Kabul offers a look at 9/11 and its aftermath from the viewpoint of a family of Afghan refugees in the United States.

On the night Fadi and his family escaped Jalalabad, he found himself briefly responsible for his little sister.  While the delivery truck paused and escapees hurried from nearby houses and alleys, Miriam dropped her Barbie doll and her hand slipped out of his when she bent to find it.  In the clamor of an approaching Taliban patrol, Fadi was swept away and Miriam was left behind.   Fadi can’t tell anyone about losing his grip on his sister–not for weeks and months, while the family settles in Oakland and his father, a former university professor, drives a taxi and sends every spare dollar to agents back home who are looking for Miriam.  In the midst of the usual problems of adjusting to the new school and culture, Fadi bears an unusual burden of guilt.  But hope appears in the form of a district-wide children’s photography contest.  The grand prize is a trip to India, which is right next to Pakistan, which borders his home country.  Once within striking distance, he’s certain he can find Miriam. But first he has to win.  Then something happens: an event we call 9/11.  Fadi is labeled a “terrorist” by the local bullies, who attack him and deal an apparently fatal blow to his contest plans.  It looks hopeless, but he’s made some helpful friends in the meantime.  The story ends happily with a nice plot twist .

Shooting Kabul was loosely based on experiences of the author’s husband.  I had a few problems with it: some slightly vulgar language (such as “pissed off”), Fadi’s incessant beating up on himself (There’s no denying it. I’m a complete loser with honors), which is realistic but tiresome, and a rather PC depiction of Muslims.  Many Afghans, like Fadi’s family, were and are reasonable people who just want to get along and believed the Taliban represents a perversion of their faith.  But radicalism is simply too prominent in Islamic culture to explain away.   Outbreaks of vandalism against Muslim businesses after 9/11 are portrayed as widespread, but that was not the case.  The word from the local mosque seems remarkably mild: The Imam’s khutba [look it up in the glossary] that week had given him hope.  The topic had been the prophet Job and how his patience and devotion to Allah had persevered, no matter what calamity had befallen him.”  Patient resignation, however characteristic of the rank and file, doesn’t seem to be the dominant characteristic Muslims show the world.  Still, Shooting Kabul is valuable as a look into another culture, and there aren’t many children’s books out there that address this piece of recent history.

Cautions: Language (mild vulgarity), Worldview (Islamic)

Overall value: 3.5 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3
• Artistic value: 3.5

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