Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai
Historical Fiction; 273 pages
Escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the summer of 2001, eleven-year-old Fadi and his family immigrate to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Fadi schemes to return to the Pakistani refugee camp where his little sister was accidentally left behind.
Sam’s review:
It’s July of 2001, and Fadi’s father has become so disillusioned with the Taliban that he decides to pay for his family to escape from Kabul, Afghanistan and settle in San Francisco, where Fadi’s father had earned a PhD when he was younger. The description of their escape is grueling, especially when their family suffers a tragedy. This tragedy dogs Fadi and his family as they attempt to begin a new life in California, and Fadi cannot stop from blaming himself. For an 11-year-old, it is a lot to handle. Then comes 9/11, and Fadi must deal with a new level of discrimination at school and more problems at home. Photography is what saves him, and there is also hope that photography might provide a way to resolve the family tragedy. Shooting Kabul is a worthwhile read both as a window into another culture that is vitally important for us to understand and as a riveting story of one boy’s struggle to make amends.