One Half from the East

After Obayda's father loses his leg in a car-bomb attack, her family is forced to move in with extended family in a village far from Kabul. As her father lies housebound and despondent, a bossy aunt tells Obayda's mother, "Make Obayda into a boy. With her as a son, she will bring good luck into your home. You'll see your husband cheer up." Bacha posh, or preteen girls dressed in boys' clothing and treated like boys, are a tradition in some parts of Afghanistan. But Obayda-now called Obayd-is frightened of facing the boys at school, especially Rahim, an older boy who singles her out. Brave, athletic, and brash, Rahim sees right through Obayda's disguise-because Rahim, too, is a bacha posh. The two, now allies, share many free-spirited adventures, including searching for a waterfall they believe will turn them into boys permanently, since the specter of their return to the female underclass is always present, horrifyingly so in Rahim's case (she is married off, at the age of thirteen, to a local warlord). Indeed, anyone hoping for an uplifting theme of women's empowerment will be disappointed: even in Obayda's more enlightened family, her preferential treatment (though not her new self-confidence) ends with the arrival of a baby brother. But by focusing on gender inequality as seen through the lens of a traditional society, Hashimi lets readers see themselves in Obayda's emotions, even as the outcomes remain true to the Afghan culture Hashimi portrays so fluently. anita l. burkam

Bacha posh, or girls dressed in boys' clothing and treated like boys, are a tradition in some parts of Afghanistan. Obayda--now called Obayd--is frightened of facing the boys at school. She eventually befriends brash Rahim (also a bacha posh), and the two share adventures. Hashimi lets readers see themselves in Obayda's emotions, even as the outcomes remain true to the Afghan culture so fluently portrayed.