Amir and the Jinn Princess

by M T Khan (Author)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

In this mesmerizing novel, a wealthy young boy searching for his mother teams up with a fiery jinn princess all while battling in a tournament of heirs--and trying to keep his life from changing forever.

Twelve-year-old Amir is one of the heirs to the Rafiq Bricks Company, a wealthy brick kiln business in Pakistan--except he wants none of it. Seeing straight through the jeweled smiles and transactional conversations, Amir would rather spend time in the courtyard garden, where he can almost feel his missing mother's presence again.

Amir is devastated when his baba announces plans to remarry by the end of the summer, dropping all searches to find Amir's mother. It's all a business move, just like everything else in his life. His mother was the only one who allowed him to feel normal, but the last anyone's seen of her was a year ago. But Amir isn't ready to give up yet--determined to find his mother before his life changes forever, Amir teams up with a high-spirited, wide-eyed, shape-shifting jinn princess named Shamsa. His exact opposite.

The two make a deal--Shamsa will help Amir navigate the twisty and mysterious realm of jinn, and in exchange Amir must use his wits to help Shamsa win a tournament of heirs and put her on the throne. Amir and Shamsa must contend with silver-tongued tricksters and magical rivals, and a truth far more devastating than Amir ever expected....

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Kirkus

Starred Review

Captivatingly well written and magical.

Publishers Weekly

The 12-year-old heir to a brick-making company in Lahore, Pakistan, partners with a powerful jinn princess to find his absent mother in this beguiling fantasy adventure by Khan (Nura and the Immortal Palace). Privileged Amir Rafiq yearns for his mother. Whether she went missing or abandoned the family is unclear, but when Amir's grandmother decides that his father must remarry before the end of summer to remove the "stain" her disappearance placed on their family name, Amir determines to find her. Fortunately, he soon learns that the cat he adopted in secret is a jinn princess named Shamsa in disguise. Shamsa offers to help Amir search for his mother; in exchange, Amir must assist Shamsa in her quest to become next in line as king of the jinn. During their journey, which teems with playfully tinged practicalities (Shamsa and Amir travel to the jinn world via train), Amir learns that he's not the only one facing hardships. Khan conveys these lessons with sensitivity, taking care not to invalidate Amir's concerns, culminating in an empathetic portrait of two lonely tweens who help to broaden each other's worldviews, along the way finding genuine companionship and previously untapped strength. Ages 8-12. (July)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 

 

M T Khan
M.T. Khan is a speculative fiction author with a penchant for all things myth, science, and philosophy. She focuses on stories that combine all three, dreaming of evocative worlds and dark possibilities. When she's not writing, she has her nose deep in physics textbooks or glued to her CAD computer as she majors in Mechanical Engineering. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, she currently resides in Toronto, Canada, with a hyperactive cat and an ever-increasing selection of tea. Nura and the Immortal Palace is her debut novel.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780759557970
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Jimmy Patterson
Publication date
July 23, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV001000 - Juvenile Fiction | Action & Adventure
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV012060 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | Asian
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Friendship in children
Fantasy
Missing persons
Princesses
Jinn
Genies
Pakistan

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