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Nura and the Immortal Palace

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Through the eyes of Nura, we see that even when she makes mistakes that come with terrible consequences, she does everything in her power to make it right. In a Nutshell: A children’s fantasy from the Indian subcontinent – what a welcome change and a novel experience! T. Khan has her nose deep in physics textbooks or glued to her CAD computer as she majors in Mechanical Engineering. But sometimes,” he sighs, ruffling my hair, “if you dig hard enough, you can find sparkles in the dirt, can’t you?

I really enjoyed what happens in this tale and how creative and different the jinn world is to ours.

Disclaimer: I received this E-ARC via the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review and this blog tour post.

Nura's mother wants her kids to get an education but it seems luxury when it is hard to meet their basic needs. I have always been fascinated about jinn and muslim folklore, so it was interesting to read about the jinn and the stories that Nura’s mother told her in the past about them.the theme of poverty as a vicious cycle impressed me the most, especially how easily it's conveyed through a middle-grade story. Her plan ends up going haywire when the mine collapses on four kids and her best friend, Faisal, turns out to be dead. I got to read an arc of this book, and I was so charmed by the characters and the magic and the lush world of the Djinn! personally, i wish the theme of education was tackled with more nuance and framed a bit differently (with the onus being more on government/structural failures rather than the protagonist's individual choice) but i understand that's unfair to expect from a short middle grade book.

I love that her qareen (jinn doppleganger) was not her true 'evil reflection' so much as Mirza, and that Nura can see in him how her own greed could make her. She focuses on stories close to her heart, evoking cultural and societal conversations through her works.It pits ignorance and education against greed for money and finer things in a world where exploiters reign.

The theme of child labour and poverty were so well-done, and not something I’ve seen covered much in kidlit. Nura and the Immortal Palace is a middle grade fantasy about 12 year old Nura, who works in the mica mines to support her family but when the mine collapses and her friends disappear, she finds herself whisked away into a secret world ruled by the jinn.

Curriculum Links: poverty and wealth, family, desire, greed, education, love, compassion, teamwork, determination and perseverance. If you are under 16, please obtain your parent/guardian’s permission before submitting or ask your parent/guardian to submit on your behalf. Olly is flabbergasted when a horde of hamsters appear in his bedroom after crash-landing their spaceship in his neighbour’s garden pond. Other great adventure and fantasy books for ages 9+ in a similar vein include; Rebel Skies, Legendarium, The Secret Wild, The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne, and Oddity. this is definitely the kind of book i wish i'd had as a kid when i would devour books about white children going on magical adventures without realizing someone like me could too.

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