Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai - Book Review

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Senzai, N. H. Shooting Kabul. New York: Simon & Schuster  for Young Readers, 2010. Print. 

N.H. Senzai wastes no time delving into the deeply troubling conflict of her debut, award-winning historical fiction novel Shooting Kabul. Set at the height of oppressive Taliban rule in Kabul, Afghanistan, the protagonist, Fadi, faces a dilemma no person should. Fadi’s parents have just spent the last of their savings on human traffickers who agree to transport his family into Pakistan. The family’s ultimate goal--to settle in San Francisco and rebuild their lives together. However, in the final moments of escape, as the Taliban chases the trafficking trucks, Fadi loses grip of his little sister, and she is left behind, alone, in the outskirts of Afghanistan. 

The conflict deepens shortly after the family’s arrival in San Francisco, when the terrorist attacks of 9/11 shock the United States--paving a path of prejudice and persecution against many Muslims and Sikhs. Still in sorrow at the separation from his sister, Fadi now must deal with a band of bullies who insists he is a terrorist. Meanwhile, Fadi’s mother is in constant grief, and his father must transition from the esteem of professorship to the meager tips of cab driving. Despite the adversity, Fadi finds a glimmer of hope in a photography contest in which the grand prize might pay his way back to Peshawar, on the border of Afghanistan, where his sister might be waiting. Readers can only hope that all the time Fadi spent shooting Kabul with a camera before his exile will help him reconvene with his lost family member.

Senzai draws readers in with a believable plot and respectable characters all loosely based on the biography of her husband. The infusion of native language, along with context clues and a helpful glossary, ensure that readers from middle school to adulthood will not only enjoy a well-crafted story but will leave this reading experience more culturally aware.