Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age

Written by Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Narrated by Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

In this New York Times Editors’ Choice, the brilliant founder of MuslimGirl.com shares her harrowing and candid account of what it’s like to be a young Muslim woman in the wake of 9/11, during the never-ending war on terror, and through the Trump era of casual racism.

At nine years old, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh watched from her home in New Jersey as two planes crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. That same year, she heard her first racial slur. At thirteen, her family took a trip to her father’s native homeland of Jordan, and Amani experienced firsthand a culture built on the true peaceful nature of Islam in its purest form, not the Islamic stereotypes she heard on the news.

Inspired by her trip and after years of feeling like her voice as a Muslim woman was marginalized during a time when it seemed all Western media could talk about was, ironically, Muslim women, Amani created a website called Muslim Girl. As the editor-in-chief, she put together a team of Muslim women and started a life dedicated to activism.

Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age is the extraordinary account of Amani’s journey through adolescence as a Muslim girl, from the Islamophobia she’s faced on a daily basis, to the website she launched that became a cultural phenomenon, to the nation’s political climate in 2016 as Donald Trump wins the presidency. While dispelling the myth that a headscarf signifies neither radicalism nor oppression, she shares both her own personal accounts and anecdotes from the “sisterhood” of writers that serve as her editorial team at Muslim Girl. Amani’s “blunt…potent message…is a skillful unraveling of the myth of the submissive Muslim woman” (The New York Times Book Review) and a deeply necessary counterpoint to the current rhetoric about the Middle East.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781508233589

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh is the founder and editor-in-chief of MuslimGirl.com, the #1 Muslim women’s blog in the United States. She regularly provides commentary on social, cultural, and political issues on outlets like CNN, Al Jazeera, and the BBC, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, and made Forbes “30 Under 30” list. She is a frequent speaker at conferences and events addressing issues pertaining to women, Islam, and the Arab world. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter at @XOAmani and read more on MuslimGirl.com.

Reviews for Muslim Girl

[girlwellread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The truth is that 9/11 never ended for us." Read it again, and think about it...

This well-written coming-of-age story of a Muslim girl in a post-9/11 world is a quick, but thought-provoiking read. Amani shares her feelings of alienation from American society, and her firsthand account of visiting her father's native homeland of Jordan. It is here, in Jordan, where she both doubts and accepts herself by finally experiencing her culture in its purest form through a lens of freedom rather than through a trivialized stereotypical one.

As a Muslim girl, Al-Khatahtbeh felt that her voice was insignificant and she founded MuslimGirl.com, a platform where Muslim girls/women would have a voice and could "talk back". This forum gives Muslim women a place to openly discuss their unique problems and interests as well as talk about the fear for their lives, Islamophobia, stereotypes, and the blaming of all Muslims for the act of a few.

This memoir is publishing at an opportune time and I highly recommend picking up a copy and making it a priority to read. Al-Khatahtbeh is is changing and challenging the way Muslim women are viewed around the world.

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy of Muslim Girl from the publisher through Goodreads -- thank you!

So, this is one heck of a book to read in the context of Donald Trump being President elect, Brexit, the spike in hate crimes.

In Muslim Girl, Amani Al-Khatahtbeh explores what it means to grow up as a Muslim American in a world impacted by 9/11, war, and some truly terrifying political shifts. She speaks candidly about her experiences of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment. The result is heartbreaking, infuriating, and eye-opening.

This is also a memoir of empowerment, of the author's experiences in finding and seizing her own voice, of survival. And it is a thoughtful and compelling exploration of race and gender.

And all the way through, she points out hypocrisy in North American culture -- the way we assume that the hijab is oppressive instead of affirming Muslim women's bodily autonomy, the way we focus on race and religion when a Muslim person commits a shooting (see: Orlando) but it never becomes an issue when a white Christian opens fire.

And... I'm going to stop talking now, because frankly, you shouldn't spend any more time listening to me. This is a fantastic book. This is an incredibly relevant and timely book. Go read it.

[livelylady · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Young author of the blog, MUSLIM GIRL, shares her journey with her life here in America. Her's is an angry voice and with good reason. She points out the injustices and discrimination she has faced only for wearing the head scarf. And she hates Trump:)

[bookbrig-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully written, with lots of pithy thoughts and sharp statistics. This is blunt and engaging and you should read it and you should talk about it. I can't wait to bring it on school visits, and I'm so grateful that it reminded me that I don't know enough and I need to do a better job of finding Muslim voices to listen to, particularly in America's media. Seriously, it's a super short book and your library probably already owns it. Go read it.

[pmaurer_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This young woman describes her life in the Muslim community. Good background and details of her world, but the tone after a while seemed to be very "preachy", and I got turned off by it. Finished the book, but I wished I had stopped part way through.