“A stunning debut about finding the strength to speak up against hate and fear, for fans of The Hate U Give and I Am Thunder. Hanan has always been encouraged to be a good girl, a quiet girl, never making trouble. When her classmates treat her as a target for their racist bullying, and her teachers use her as their perfect Muslim poster girl, she keeps smiling and keeps her mouth shut. They don’t see past her headscarf, but she knows she is so much more than that. Then a local man is murdered, tensions run high and Muslims become targets for even worse abuse. After a terrifying attack, Hanan decides that it’s time to make her voice heard…it’s time to shake the world.”
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Publication Date: February 2nd 2023
I hate comparing books of this subject matter to The Hate U Give, as it feels I’m saying that that is the only other book to tackle such a topic, but You Think You Know Me is a compelling story that tackles racist behaviour, and The Hate U Give is one of the most known other books to do so.
Ayaan Mohamud’s (she/her) debut novel tells the story of Hanan and how she has lived a life constantly facing racism from those around her, seeing her as a threat due to her religion and the headscarf that she wears. She is a quiet girl, destined for great things, while her friends are the ones who speak up for things that matter, until it gets too much for Hanan. Someone somewhat close to her, a local man, is murdered, and of course, the hateful behaviour towards Muslims steps up. I say steps up as it never stops; only gets worse. Hanan decides that now is a better time than ever to make her voice heard and stand up for both herself and what she believes in.
After she and her brother are both attacked by one of her classmates, not only does she live in certain fear of this happening again, but also in fear of her brother not waking up. It was such a hard book to read for the scenes of hate crime that were present, but I can only commend Ayaan for writing them with such care and compassion.
After learning that Ayaan’s inspiration for writing this book came from her own experiences of Islamophobia, I can understand why she felt the need to get the story out there. I am unsure on whether it is her own story she’s telling, but it is definitely the story of many people out there who don’t fit the mould of what a person should look like according to far too many people.
Thank you to Usborne for the ARC!
All the love,
Jade x
Tea Stains and Book Spines 