Review: ASK ME NO QUESTIONS by Marina Budhos

Budhos, Marina. 2006. Ask me no questions. New York: Ginee Seo Books. ISBN: 9781416903512

PLOT SUMMARY:
Nadira and her family are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Although they have spent years in the United States, working to build successful lives, in the aftermath following September 11, they fear deportation. When they make a desperate attempt to find asylum in Canada, they are turned away at the border and Nadira’s father is arrested. Nadira and her sister, Aisha, are forced stay with their uncle’s family and return to school while they work to find a way to free their father and avoid losing the lives they have built in the U.S.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Although the book’s plot is interesting and suspenseful, I felt that Nadira largely remains a stranger to the reader. Usually, stories told in the first person feel extremely personal. The reader is invited to experience every thought and feeling of the narrator. You come away feeling like you know that character like a friend. Nadira is more like a casual acquaintance. She never reveals who she is. By the end of the novel, all that I know about her is that she loves her family, is scared of being deported, and feels inferior to her sister. Budhos doesn’t provide any details about what Nadira is passionate about, how she spends her time, or what her personality is like on a day to day basis. There are some small instances in the book when you get a hint at her individuality, such as when she meets a college student and realizes that college is not just for overachievers like her sister. However, moments like this are cut short. Just when the reader is getting more insight into her character, Nadira realizes it’s time to pick up her sister.

Although Budhos does not reveal much about her protagonist, she does depict a variety of personalities, reactions, and attitudes in her other characters. Although most of the book’s main characters share similar experiences as Muslims living illegally in the U.S., they do not share the same reactions to their current situations. This diversity is described both before and after the effects of 9/11. Nadira’s mother shies away from leaving her home and generally spends her days learning English from cooking shows. Nadira’s aunt, on the other hand, eagerly defies her husband to pursue a job outside the home. The unifying behavior that Nadira shares with her family is their endeavors to blend in and avoid questions.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: “The author explains their situation well, but the effect is more informational than fiction. Nadira and Aisha are clearly drawn characters, but they don't quite come alive, and their Bangladeshi-American background is more a backdrop than a way of life. Still, this is an important facet of the American immigrant experience, worthy of wider attention.”

Booklist: “The teen voice is wonderfully immediate, revealing Nadira's mixed-up feelings as well as the diversity in her family and in the Muslim community. There's also a real drama that builds to a tense climax.”

CONNECTIONS:
This book provides an alternate perspective of the effects of the September 11th attacks than most Americans are used to hearing. Recommend this book to teens learning about 9/11 and the impact on the treatment of Muslims in the United States.