Ask Me No Questions

Citation:

Budhos, Marina. 2006. Ask Me No Questions. New York: Atheneum for Young Readers.

ISBN 9781416949206

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Nadira and her family immigrated to New York City from Bangladesh when Nadira was just seven. A few years before September 11, 2001, the family’s visas expire and because of the terrorist attack, the Muslim community is under close surveillance. A failed attempt for asylum in Canada lands Nadira’s father in prison and Nadira and her older sister, Aisha must find a way to convince authorities that their father is not a criminal.

Critical Analysis:

Ask Me No Questions is a poignant look into the life of a Bangladeshi immigrant living in New York City during the months following September 11, 2001. Written in first person, the story follows fourteen-year-old Nadira as she struggles to understand the prejudice that she faces as a Middle Eastern immigrant. Nadira is constantly at odds with why her family is being targeted and wants so badly to fit in and be able to call someplace her home: “You forget. You forget you don’t really exist here, that this isn’t your home” (p. 8).  The fact that Nadira must keep their legal status a secret is a terrible burden to place on any teenager, but a very real issue that many teens in Nadira’s situation face.  Nadira’s sister Aisha’s valedictorian speech is one of the most powerful moments of the novel. She decides to unveil the family’s secrets and bravely addresses the discrimination she faces as a Muslim in America after 9/11: “Overnight, we, the invisible people, became visible. We became dangerous. We became terrorists, people with bombs in our luggage, poison in our homes” (p. 151).

 

While Nadira and her sister, Aisha have spent a majority of their lives in America wearing t-shirts and eating McDonald’s, the older family members tend to continue traditional Bangladeshi customs. The men wear kurtas and the women wear saris and shalwar kameezes. Traditional Middle Eastern foods including chicken tandoori, pooris, and alu gobi are also mentioned on several occasions throughout the novel. Nadira’s family tends to be somewhat progressive. They never forget their heritage, but seem to have no problem assimilating with western culture: “The first time Aisha came home crying from grade school because the kids made fun of her head scarf, Ma said firmly, ‘Don’t wear it, then.’ Ma got a lot of flak from her friends for that…‘Let them peck like old chickens’, Abba (father) laughed. ‘We know who we are’ (p. 109).

Review Excerpt(s):

“The teen voice is wonderfully immediate, revealing Nadira's mixed-up feelings as well as the diversity in her family and in the Muslim community.” ~ Booklist, Starred Review, December 2005

“Nadira's need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family's desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek into the lives of foreigners on the fringe.”

~ Kirkus Reviews, December 2005

 

Connections:

 Other books by Marina Budhos:

Budhos, Marina. 2010. Tell Us We're Home. N.Y.: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781416903529

Budhos, Marina. 1999. Remix: Conversations with Immigrant Teenagers. New York: Henry Holt.

 ISBN 9781556356100

Classroom Activities: Check out Marina Budhos’s website and blog-

http://www.marinabudhos.com/