16 year old Amal is like any other girl in Australia. She hangs out with her friends, she crushes on boys and she does what every other normal teenager does. But Amal chooses this year to wear the head scarf, the piece of cloth that instantly makes a woman recognisable as a muslim.

Amal battles prejudices both from outside and from within, racism and some horrific events. But she also makes some surprising friendships and learns the limits of the male/female relationship when she finds that words and actions need to match or someone will get hurt.

I didn’t think I could get into this book, because its been a while since I’ve read a Young Adult book, but after the first few pages I was totally hooked.

Amal is easy to get to know, likeable and funny. She also uses a lot of Australian slang, which might be difficult to understand, but I grew up watching Australian soaps, so words like Daggy make sense to me. But don’t let this put you off.

This book is funny, light hearted with a serious message and touches on some difficult issues that rarely get addressed in this kind of fiction – forced marriage, culture vs religion, national identity, racism etc.

It seems heavy stuff, but within the context of the book its well handled.

A fascinating read for all ages.

5 out of 5 stars.

Does My Head Look Big in This?