This is an urgent short story, told in the first person by Arjan on his sixteenth birthday; the day he is murdered.
Bali Rai, a Sikh himself, takes a very relatable Sikh teenage boy of Punjabi heritage going out for a very ordinary cinema and Nando’s evening with his ordinary group of racially mixed friends. So normal … and yet the evening suddenly turns so utterly, horrifically, abnormal.
The relevance of Arjan’s faith is that he wears an outward symbol of that faith; a turban. In the story, Arjan explains the importance of turban wearing to him and his family, what his hair is like under it, and why he is proud to wear it. And yet, to a racist thug, it is, literally a ‘red rag’ that enrages. The thug’s ignorance is reflected in his naming Arjan ‘Taliban’. What finally enrages the thug into physical, rather than just verbal, violence is when he sees Arjan, ‘chatting up a white girl, and that ain’t right.’
What follows is a tense chase as Arjan is hunted down, and, utterly shockingly, killed.
All too believably depicted through teenage chat and behaviour and reactions. Young readers will respond to the honesty of this story. Its short sharp effect will stay with them for a long time. The text is complimented with graphic novel type illustrations by David Shephard, suiting the readership and characters as they bring the story to visual life. This book should be in every secondary school library.
In an Author’s Note at the end of this short book, Bali Rai explains how the story came to him, and what he hopes it will prompt readers to consider. Where does prejudice come from, and where can it lead? What is just banter, and what is dangerous? This is going to be an important book for many young people who recognise themselves, and those they know, in the characters and situations depicted.
This book is published by Barrington Stoke, consulting young people and designing the book to be accessible to those with dyslexia.
No comments:
Post a Comment