Amal Unbound & Malala, A Brave Girl From Pakistan/ Iqbal, A Brave Boy From Pakistan: Two Stories
Aisha Saeed's story, Amal Unbound, is one of coming-of-age, grappling with life and its countless hardships, and coming to terms with our own choices. Amal, a young girl from a small Pakistani village, is sent off to be a servant to a powerful leader, Jawad Sahib, when her inability to control her tongue gets her in trouble. Her family has been borrowing money from Sahib and when he comes to collect their payment, he takes it in the form of Amal. Amal is forced to grow up when she becomes Jawad Sahib's mother's servant.
Malala, a Brave Girl From Pakistan; Iqbal, a Brave Boy From Pakistan is the dual-story of both Malala and Iqbal and the bravery both showed as young children. Malala Yousafzai was only eleven years old when she started speaking out against the Taliban's wishes about girls not attending school. She expressed the importance of education for all people, especially girls, and ultimately paid the price for her speaking-out when she was shot in the head by a Taliban fighter. She ultimately recovered and continues to speak out about education to this day.
Iqbal Masih was only ten years old when he was liberated from a carpet factory. He began speaking out against child labor, speaking at many conferences where he recounted his own horrific story and experiences. When he was only twelve years old, he was shot and killed while riding bicycles with his cousins in their village. Both of these children serve as role models to readers everywhere to speak out against injustice.
In their book, Reading to Make a Difference, authors Lester L. Laminack and Katie Kelly start chapter five with these words:
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"There are those who say, 'Just ignore it and keep going. It isn't our problem.' There are those who say, 'I'm not getting involved. What can one person do, anyway? What's the point?' Then there are those who can't, for some, reason, ignore injustice and hated and mistreatment of others. They can't see a wrong and walk away. They believe that one person can make a difference, and they do" (Laminack and Kelly, 2019).
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I love that the authors included this segment in their chapter. I think this is a great introduction into talking about injustices and hatred and mistreatment of others in our own classrooms. In order for our students to have an empathic response when it comes to reading things of this nature, we need our students to want to be the people who see a wrong, won't walk away, and will stand up for others.
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I love the example the authors chose to share with their readers of Alyssa Cameron and her class of fourth graders. In her classroom, Alyssa made sure to read a variety of books with her students in a variety of ways: whole group, small groups, and even in their independent reading time. What I love about the books Alyssa chose for her students is that when students came to her with issues they experienced in their own lives, she made sure to give them books that dealt with the same issues. For example, when a student shared that one of his friends at church had autism, Alyssa found a book about a character with autism for that child to read about and get to know. This allowed for this child to experience a new perspective, one that he may not have been aware of before making this friend at church. Alyssa thus created a sliding glass door by allowing this child to enter and interact in a world different than his own that he is accustomed and used to.
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What I love most about Alyssa's lessons in her classroom was that she was not afraid to face controversial issues head-on. These can be uncomfortable and confusing things to talk about, especially when we have to explain them to children. Often times, people reserve their true feelings or factoids from children because they are scared to share them. However, it is important for students to be informed and understand that the world around them does not view everyone to be equal, and certainly has not followed that statute in history. By asking students what they notice, what they think, and why they think that, we are engaging our students to think critically and become more empathic as they converse about tough topics, such as classism, racism, and sexism.
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Prior to reading this excerpt from Laminack and Kelly's book, I was unsure about how to talk about these sorts of issues with my own class. My graduate course has been preparing me with children's books that can be used to create conversation, but creating the conversation is a whole other story. Seeing how Alyssa modeled her lessons really encourages me, and excites me, to get out and teach my students to be better citizens, better people, and promote more empathy in my own classroom.
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Saeed, A. (2018). Amal Unbound. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.
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Winter, J. (2014). Malala, a Brave Girl from Pakistan ; Iqbal, a Brave Boy from Pakistan. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books.
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Laminack, L. L., & Kelly, K. (2019). Reading to Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Speak Freely, Think Deeply, and Take Action. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.