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So take the Islamic community, add a fire, a death, opposition from important folk, and conflict between friends. Before you know you’ll have an interesting book called Four Eids and a Funeral. Can the conflict between the friends be resolved? Can the Islamic community be helped? What will happen with the opposition presented to them? And what’s with the funeral? All these things will be answered as you read through Faridah Abike-lymide and Adiba Jairgirdar’s novel.
The Basic Details for Fours Eids and a Funeral
Title: Four Eids and a Funeral
Author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 336
Intended Audience: grade 10-12, 14-18 years
Genre: romance, Islamic, religious fiction, contemporary fiction,
Available formats: Kindle, Hardcover, Audio, Paperback
Received: ARC Paperback
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books
About the Book and Author
The Story:
These days, Said Hossain spends most of his time away at boarding school. But when his favorite hometown librarian, Ms. Barnes, dies, he must return to New Crosshaven for her funeral and for the summer. Being home makes it harder to avoid facing his ex-best friend, Tiwa Olatunji, or facing the daunting task of telling his Bangladeshi parents that he would rather be an artist than a doctor.
Tiwa doesn’t understand what made Said start ignoring her. Though he’s unexpectedly staying at home through the summer, she’s determined to pretend he doesn’t exist. Besides, she has enough going on anyway, grieving her broken family and helping her mother throw the upcoming Eid celebration.
But when the Islamic Center accidentally catches fire, it turns out the mayor plans to demolish the center entirely. Tiwa needs Said’s help if there’s any hope of changing the mayor’s mind, and on top of everything, Said needs a project to submit to art school.
Will all their efforts be enough to save the Islamic Center, save Eid, and maybe even save their relationship?
Authors Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé and Adiba Jaigirdar
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé hails from Britain where she writes novels. A Muslin, she has written for various publications and received a number of awards.
Adiba Jaigirdard is also a British author, and has won a variaty of awards. She enjoys playing video games and collecting lipstick.
Let’s Take a Closer Look
I enjoyed learning more about Said and Tiwa’s lives.
I found the story kept me interested, though, it did take me a while to get into the story. The characters were varied in scope, age, and interests which adds depth to lives you are reading about.
I am not a Muslim, nor an I familiar with their culture and celebrations, ergo, I don’t know if they presented the culture well in regards to celebrations, mannerisms, etc. I do have to wonder about the lesbian in a Muslim family being accepted. This is not what I’ve seen as accepted within the culture. So that is something I wonder about for accuracy. I wonder if it’s part of the “Americanization” of the Muslim culture influencing this.
Chapters vary the voice of the speaker, alternating between Said and Tiwa. The chapters are simply decorated, no variations beyond whose voice you are hearing. The two main characters are unique in their sound and their viewpoints on life. Both have had their struggles, and the reason for the distance between them is explained as the book progresses.
There is some jumping back and forth between the past and the present, but not enough to cause difficulty in keeping track of where you are.
My recommendation
Four Eids and a Funeral is well-worth reading. Watch as two friends go from a hurt relationship to building a stronger friendship with each other. Some romance is involved, but it’s a boy-girl relationship with teens, somewhat to be expected eh? 🙂
It’s not a perfect story, as there are things to tighten up, but it’s a story that takes you away for a bit, and that’s what a good story does. Said and Tiwa’s tale kept me interested and I wanted to to know how it would all turn out in the end. I was not disappointed.
