Rukhsana Khan,
Wanting Mor
Groundwood Books, 2009

Rating: G*

Jameela is a young girl living in a poor village in Afghanistan. Her life is quite bleak - she has been surrounded by war for her entire life and most of her family was killed by a bomb while attending a family wedding. She is not allowed to go to school and has not learned to read, even though she is interested in learning. She has a cleft lip and lives by the mantra ‘If you can’t be beautiful, you should at least be good’. The book begins with the death of her mother, Mor, and quickly moves to her father taking her to the city. We watch as Jameela does what she can to help others, even going without food to ensure that others are served before her. Her father eventually remarries and she works as a maid for her new stepmother, while her stepbrother attempts to teach her to read. After an episode with her step-mother, Jameela is taken to the market and told to sit and wait. He does not return. Eventually Jameela ends up in an orphanage. There she is taught to read and has her cleft lip fixed, thanks to the soldiers. By the end of the novel, Jameela is a stronger person and is able to take care of others while making sure that she herself is also considered and taken care of.

This novel, while fictional, is based on a true story. Set in Afghanistan in 2001, the author read a story about a girl named Sameela whose mother had died and whose father, after his remarriage, had abandoned her in the marketplace. The author states her purpose for writing Wanting Mor was to emphasise that children are the ones who suffer the most in war. The book is a well written one, and while some of the situations seem improbable, knowing that the most improbable of them, the abandoning of Jameela, is based on a true story, makes the rest of the book seem more probable. The title with its double meaning is somewhat cute, however, is quite appropriate for the theme of the novel.

This novel would be good for anyone interested in the impact of war on citizens of a war-torn country and those who enjoy stories based on historical events. Fans of The Breadwinner Series would enjoy this novel as a learning extension.

Thematic Links : Afghanistan War, 2001; Girls and Afghanistan; Orphanages and Afghanistan

Alison Edwards
Vol. 15, number 1
October 2009

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.