Do you remember begging your parents to read you a story before going to bed every night? I remember not being able to fall asleep unless I had a bedtime story. It’s not like that anymore and as much as I try I always find myself turning to grab my phone before bed instead of a good book. I don’t know where my love for reading went, but I’m happy to see that my younger sister still has a passion for it. She’s a sophomore in high school and has read more books over the summer than I have in the past couple of months
Over Thanksgiving break, I had the chance to sit down with her a discuss some of the books she has read while I was gone. After a long discussion of titles like Secrets for the Mad by Dodie Clark, Dear Evan Hansen: The novel by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul, Any book by John Green, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, I was surprised to see that all of the books she has read recently have come from the United States and the United Kingdom. Being the sister that I am, I asked her to read a book that would broaden her view of the world. The book I chose for her was No Guns at my Son’s Funeral by Paro Anand.
After reading the novel, I asked her a couple of questions to see how she enjoyed the book and what she learned from it. For some background, No Guns at my Son’s Funeral is a story about a young Kashmiri boy, Aftab. He lives a normal life by day where he plays cricket, attends school, and spends time with his family. By night, he sneaks around with Akram and a group of tearaway terrorists. This story is raw and could be classified as ‘reality fiction’ as it could be set in any country facing violence in their own backyard.
What were your thoughts going into reading this book?
Kiersten: I wasn’t sure if I’d really like this book. I’ve never read a book for school that wasn’t published in the United States. For pleasure reading, I usually choose fantasy books as my go to. After reading some background about the novel, I became more intrigued because it seemed like it would be a very cathartic read something I knew I haven’t experienced in a while and I looked forward to doing.
Were there any things that seemed to make your understanding of the novel more challenging?
Kiersten: I found while reading the book it was hard to make a connection with the protagonist. I have not experienced violence first hand like the children in this novel have. I did feel sympathy for Aftab as I do know what it’s like to be an outsider. I know there’s no excuse for killing innocent people in the name of religion or any reason but I can see why Aftab was so enthralled with Akram. He was accepting, attractive, and a great leader. It makes sense that Aftab would stay with him because he finally had a place where he felt like he belonged.
Do you think you’ll continue to read young adult novels from around the world?
Kiersten: I think it’s something I’ll be more aware of when picking out books to read in the future. I felt like I have gained a new perspective of the world and am thankful you introduced me to that. This novel wasn’t necessarily one of my favorite reads but I do believe reading novels about other young adults from different countries does show that even though we live in different places and our environments are very different we still deal with similar issues like stereotypes, love, friendships, and loss. I found that the way this novel was written really led to me liking it as it didn’t try so hard to sound like a young adult and it wasn’t overdone either. I feel like it stayed true to that teen voice. The one that is still figuring out the world and doesn’t always think through their decisions.
Works Cited
Anand, Paro. No Guns at my Son’s Funeral. Roli Books, 2005.