Book: It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel (2016)
Author: Firoozeh Dumas
Genre: MG, Near Historical [1970s]
Basic plot: Cindy’s family comes from Iran. Her real name is Zomorod, but she thinks she’d rather be called “Cindy” as she attempts to navigate middle school life in the U.S. But it’s the 1970s and things over in Iran aren’t going well. When news of the Iran Hostage Crisis hits, suddenly her dad loses his job and people are telling her to go back home to Iran. What can she and her family do?
WHAT’S COOL…
1) This is a very relaxed book in many ways. It’s set in the late 1970s and there’s a lot of nostalgia here. It does take some time to get to the hostage crisis.
2) The relationship between Cindy and Brock is nicely developed. As her friend Carolyn points out, you can tell they “like” each other, but I’m glad it’s just kept at the mutual-crush stage. I really don’t like it when middle-grade books put in some kissing scene, and I’m happy this book doesn’t go there. It just remains sweet and awkward and… well, sweet.
3) The friendship between the girls is lovely! Even when others are telling her family to go home, the girls (Carolyn, Rachel, and Dewey) stick by Cindy. The Halloween scenes are especially fun.
4) The parents are hilarious. I love the bit about the mom and how she’s always trying to force-feed everybody. Like with Skip and the grape-leaves. And the father is a really good dad. I just love his support of his daughter.
5) The theme of kindness is much needed in our world today. I love how she quotes from A Streetcar Named Desire (about the kindness of strangers)… and that’s true when it comes to characters like Skip (one of my favourites! He’s also the guy who speaks the words of the book’s title…) But really it’s more the kindness of friends that help Cindy and her family out.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I loved Cindy/Zomorod. She was a likable character. And reading this book was definitely meant to feature her character. I loved the historical setting and learned a lot about Iranian customs.
YOUR TURN…
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
Note: I’m posting this for Greg Pattridge’s Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday…
Of Maria Antonia 
I never read this one when it came out, but have talked to a few kids who enjoyed the story. Guess I’ll have to add it to my TBR list. Thanks for the help to do just that after reading your excellent review.
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Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
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There probably aren’t many middle grade kids who know about the Iran hostage crisis so I love the idea of being able to introduce them to not only the historical event but also how others in the U.S. might have been affected. On an unrelated note, I love falafel and definitely don’t think its awful.
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Agreed! I love it when we can learn historical events through books… especially those events we’re not as familiar with. And, like you mentioned, few middle schoolers will probably know about the hostage crisis.
The title is fun, isn’t it. It makes more sense once you meet one of the characters!
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I am the exact same age as Cindy, so I don’t have this historical event very clear in my mind. This really helped me understand a part of history that happened during my own life. I like the new cover, too.
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Isn’t it funny how we can live through historical events as kids and not quite realize it!
I do love books like this one to help me know more about events like this.
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What a fun cover and a unique way to introduce middle-graders to some world history from the late 20th century. Thanks for featuring this novel for MMGM!
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Yes, the cover is fun, isn’t it!
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Such an interesting time period and it would be even more interesting to read about it from Cindy’s point of view.
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Yes, I really enjoyed Cindy’s POV.
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I remember this period well — I was in college and had a friend marry a man from Iran — and she had to flee. There is a large community of Iranians in Cincinnati who were part of the Shah’s regime. Such a tough time! This book would interest me, because there isn’t a lot written about Iran.
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Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this.
And you’re right, there isn’t much written about Iran, especially for kids.
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Thanks for this informative and inspiring review. I did not know what it was really about, but I remember the Iran Hostage Crisis. I was just starting college when it happened. And I’ve had this in my ebooks for so long, but haven’t read it. Now I will, though.
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I hope you like it. I found it fascinating.
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I vaguely remember the Iran hostage crisis. This seems timely for today’s political atmosphere too, with so many people being told to “go home”, even if they were born here! Nice review, Maria!
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Yes, I find it interesting to see how often history repeats itself.
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Great review! I’ve been thinking about trying this one.
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Yes! I hope you like it!
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You’re right. We do need more books with a message of kindness. This sound pretty fun. By the way, I was at a conference about 10 years ago, and an editor from one of the big houses said, “Don’t send me any historical fiction, and, yes, the 1990s are historical!”
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I totally agree that the 1990s are historical. It was a different kind of life back then…
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