Nadia Islam, On the Record

Gr 3-5–Jaigirdar’s middle grade debut centers on eight-year-old Nadia Islam, who is spending the summer with her family in Bangladesh. The visit is Nadia’s first to the country her parents called home, and it is also her first Ramadan, during which she will be fasting. While Nadia is upset at first to be separated from her best friend, she finds herself consumed by a competition among her cousins and brother to see who can hold the record for the most fasts. Nadia finds it challenging to fast, especially on days that she accompanies her aunt, who is reporting on the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations. Inspired by her aunt and her interview subjects, Nadia decides that she too wants to create change, through her school newspaper. Fans of Jaigirdar’s young adult works will appreciate her continued crafting of compelling characters, however, this novel has a wholly different audience and lacks the tension readers may expect. Dwivedi’s illustrations bring warmth and cheerfulness to the text, helping draw in younger readers. While this early middle grade novel feels unique, it is also unbalanced: familial interactions feel the most authentic to the character’s age, yet positioning such a young character as a journalist covering a heavy topic would resonate more with older readers, who the book’s lengthy page count might not dissuade.