More to the Story, by Hena Khan is a wonderfully engaging book. It centers on Jam (Jameela), a 7th grader who loves writing for her school, (and home) newspaper. She has 3 siblings: Maryam is the oldest, Bisma is younger than Jam, and Aleeza is the youngest. Each are nicely described, and Khan shares details that add more depth to each character as the story moves on.
Jam is dealing with quite a bit here! She is excited that she has been picked to be the features editor for her school paper. She has many supporters, but when one of her biggest, her dad, leaves for a job overseas, she starts dealing with some harder aspects in life. In addition to that, her younger sister, Bisma get seriously ill. I thought the ways Jam dealt with this, what she thought, how people helped, how Bisma dealt with it, were all realistically portrayed.
I also thought the themes around the newspaper club were handled deftly. I will share the story here with my media journalism class, as so many ethical issues were dealt with well.
While there are serious issues to contend with, humor abounds in this novel. It is perfect for older ES students, and MS students.
I truly loved it.
