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A children's book, written by a soldier about an Afghani girl, set in the recent past. That's a toughie. There are a lot of easier books out there to review too. Why aren't I writing one about the adorable little girl who wants to be Little Miss Apple Pie or the one about the cute dog that wants to......more

I count this among the finest first novels I've yet read. I was most impressed by the tremendous empathy, Trent Reedy, a U.S. soldier, was able to find for his main character, Zulaikha, a young Afghan girl. He wrote so deeply in her perspective that if I were told that the book was written by Zulaik......more

The usual caveat: I edited this, I'm biased, etc. But what makes this book really, really good is first, how beautifully low-key and specific it is about Zulaikha's life in western Afghanistan -- how she and her sister do housework all day, her stepmother's coldness, the teasing and low self-esteem t......more

A solid contribution to the small (but growing) "downtrodden Middle Eastern girl" genre. Zulaika has an interesting story arc, in that in the beginning her hopes and dreams are rather modest and it's only as she's exposed to the world outside of her home that she begins to dream of going to school a......more

I received this book through Goodreads. Words in the Dust is the story of a young Afghani girl, Zulaika, with a cleft lip and palate. The story explores her daily life in Afghanistan and the changes brought by the arrival of American soldiers. Zulaika lives in a modest dirt home with her father, ste......more