An Andalus Adventure

Product Information

Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber, Qasim, joins Tariq's men, and is swept away on an amazing quest. The year is 711 CE, 92 years after the Hijra of the Prophetﷺ and seventy-nine years since hisﷺ death. It then jumps to the Governor of Ceuta, Count Julian (Ilyan), awaiting to meet with Umayyad leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad. Her childhood was spent in Wales, and after graduating, having travelled widely in the Muslim world, she lives in London with her husband and three children.

The summary might make the book seem fast paced, and while it does constantly move forward to a clear destination, it isn’t a “buckle your seatbelt and hang on” type of story. Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber, Qasim joins Tariq's men and is swept away on an amazing quest. The book opens with two young siblings Ben and Bella, overlooking the coast, dreading their lives under Visigoth oppression, and hiding their Jewish culture and faith. Jacob, captured in Julian's raid on Iberia, is tied up and thrust upon a galley boat bound for North Africa. My teen and tween son couldn’t get past 38 pages or so, and I’ve asked around and no one I know that started the book, finished it.

It set up to add depth regarding Old Mother Magda, the Cave of Secrets, and the unverified death of the king, but after being stated it was never mentioned again or resolved for any real purpose. Similarly, I love that it mentioned Abbas Ibn Firnas, but I don’t know that most kids know enough about him to know what is being hinted at and what the outcome was of his flight at the end.

In a middle school, or upper elementary the book would be a great crossover between History, English, and Islam classes. The first few pages grip you, the last 50 bring it all together, but the middle 250 were hit and miss in this lower YA/upper MG book. I appreciated the updates on the characters and it showing Muslims and people of other faiths coexisting and being accepting even within families, but the connection to the story was a little lost. The climax is nice but ultimately rather lackluster, and the beauty of characters taking shahada, Jews being freed, Solomon’s table, an old lady with a premonition, and a character dying are just not enough to keep the story in reader’s hands, unfortunately.All that aside, I think the book has value, it is just really dry in spots, a lot of spots, and given the vocabulary, the changing narrators, the choppiness between chapters, and the history, it is hard to keep reading or be anxious to pick up once you have put it down. The book would naturally lend itself to the students keeping character journals, the supplements and backmatter would allow for references and insight in to real history, and I think the book would do really well in this set up to connect with the audience.

This author’s style is a bit more slow, but I think in the House of Ibn Kathir series, the setting of being in school and having friend problems is relatable to readers; boarding horses on to a boat, deciding to wage war, and going in to battle are not familiar concepts, and without the emotional connection it loses momentum. Jalali’s books explore the Islamic faith through the tradition of storytelling – entertaining with adventurous, humorous and memorable characters to fuel the imagination.Are there any safe spaces where your package could have been left or could it have been delivered to one of you neighbours. Leaving his sleepy village of Tlemcen, a young Berber Qasim, joins Tariq’s men, and is swept away on an amazing quest. After centuries of unrest under the rule of tyrant Visigoth kings, a desperate cry breaks free and carries over the Straits to reach the shores of North Africa, to the land of the Umayyads.

I love historical fiction, visiting Spain is on my bucket list, this book has a map, details about what is historical what is fiction, has Islam woven in to the heart and soul of the story and characters, and yet it was a hard read. Siblings Ben and Bella live under constant Visigoth scrutiny, forced to lead a double life of secrets and deception.N. Jalali is an author of works of fiction for older children and YA, from boarding school adventures to her newest adventure packed novel; a historical fiction for Young Adults inspired by real-life historical events of the birth of Muslim Spain. It is extremely well written and I loved the way the author integrates perspectives from three different viewpoints, following their adventures with different timelines that come together in an incredible finale. We recommend that the parcel is packaged securely to prevent any damage whilst in transit and that proof of postage is retained.