Razia's Ray of Hope: One Girl's Dream of an Education (CitizenKid)

by Liz Suneby (Author) Suana Verelst (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: CitizenKid

Razia is excited when her grandfather tells her there's a school for girls being built in their Afghan village. At last, girls will have the same opportunity to be educated as boys. "Every night I fell asleep dreaming about going to school like my brothers," she says.

Her grandfather wants Razia to enroll in the school. He remembers a time, before the wars and the Taliban, when educated women in Afghanistan became doctors, government workers and journalists, and how this made families and the country stronger.

Razia knows, however, that she will need permission from her father and her oldest brother, Aziz, in order to be allowed to attend the school. She begs her grandfather, "Please, Baba gi, ask Baba and Aziz if I may go. I must go." But will her grandfather's words be enough to convince the younger men of the value of an education for Razia?

Inspired by real-life Razia Jan's experiences when she built the Zabuli Education Center outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, author Elizabeth Suneby uses a fictionalized story to deftly personalize the plight of many children around the world who are not being educated. The layered, mixed-media illustrations by Suana Verelst add contextual details about life in an Afghan village.

This book works perfectly for a social studies lesson on global cultures. Extra resources include an overview of children worldwide who do not attend school, the story of the real Razia Jan, a glossary of Dari words found in the text and activity suggestions

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School Library Journal

Gr 3-5—This story was inspired by Razia Jan, an Afghani woman who lived in the U.S. but returned to Kabul to build the first girls' school there. A fictional youngster named Razia longs to go to the newly opened school for girls but must have permission from her father and oldest brother. Both the prose and the plot are predictableher relatives refuse: "Next you'll want Razia to go into town to shop by herself," says her father to the child's supportive grandfather. "Or for women to shed their burqas in public," her brother adds. In the end, the real Razia Jan appears to convince the men, and the child is permitted to go to school. In contrast, there is nothing ordinary about the mixed-media illustrations. Each spread is a combination of muted colors, block-print designs, and evocative collage portraits of elders, active children, and the blue backs of burqa-clad women, interspersed with photographs of everyday objects: a teapot, a wool blanket, colored pencils in the school. Back matter includes a glossary of Dari words, and suggested classroom activities and discussion. Also included is a short biography of Razia Jan and a photo of her with three grinning schoolgirls. The photo brings the fictional story to life, illuminating that part of the world in which girls beg to go to school, then bring their workbooks home to teach their mothers.—Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Purposeful in a positive way, this imaginatively illustrated book should open readers' eyes to issues facing children who live in very different circumstances.—Kirkus Reviews
Liz Suneby
Elizabeth Suneby loves words! Writing helps Liz come up with new ideas, learn new things, figure out her feelings and express them to others. Writing is also how Liz earns a living. She writes content for companies large and small. She writes magazine articles. And she writes books for children and teens that help kids find their voice in a hopeful world.

Suana Verelst was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and grew up in Kortrijk, a Belgian town close to the French border. She studied drawing and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sint-Niklaas, East Flanders, before leaving for Canada to continue her studies in Art History, Fine Arts and Graphic Design.

Classification
-
ISBN-13
9781554538164
Lexile Measure
680
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Kids Can Press
Publication date
September 01, 2013
Series
CitizenKid
BISAC categories
JUV035000 - Juvenile Fiction | School & Education
JUV014000 - Juvenile Fiction | Girls & Women
JUV030020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Asia
Library of Congress categories
-
Jane Addams Children's Book Award
Honor Book 2014 - 2014
Middle East Book Awards
Winner 2014 - 2014

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