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Striker #1
You're Not Proper
Karen thinks she's not proper white.
Her dad is Pakistani and her mother is white Christian, and somehow she feels as if she doesn't quite fit in... anywhere. So she's made a choice: she's switching sides.
Karen’s going to convert to Islam to find her true identity.
But Shamshad, her Hijab-wearing school mate, isn’t making things easy for her. What's her deal, anyway? Is Shamshad really any more proper than herself?
Trouble and turmoil await in the old textile mill town of Boardhead East, as school battles are replaced by family troubles, name calling turns to physical confrontation and cataclysmic secrets are unveiled.
Set against a backdrop of seething Islamaphobia, You're Not Proper is the first in the Striker series, written by Tariq Mahmood to shine a light on issues of identity, religion, politics and class affecting young people today – a unique new series in young adult fiction.
Her dad is Pakistani and her mother is white Christian, and somehow she feels as if she doesn't quite fit in... anywhere. So she's made a choice: she's switching sides.
Karen’s going to convert to Islam to find her true identity.
But Shamshad, her Hijab-wearing school mate, isn’t making things easy for her. What's her deal, anyway? Is Shamshad really any more proper than herself?
Trouble and turmoil await in the old textile mill town of Boardhead East, as school battles are replaced by family troubles, name calling turns to physical confrontation and cataclysmic secrets are unveiled.
Set against a backdrop of seething Islamaphobia, You're Not Proper is the first in the Striker series, written by Tariq Mahmood to shine a light on issues of identity, religion, politics and class affecting young people today – a unique new series in young adult fiction.
190 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2015
4 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 8, 2015
I liked the way it dealt with religion and showed how difficult it can be to navigate faith when everyone around is challenging you. The ending was pretty dark though got solved weirdly quickly! Would've liked more detail on the relationship between Shamshad and Kiran - but it was a short enjoyable read about rivalry and finding yourself.
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January 6, 2017DNF @ page 120
Don't know if I'll pick this up again :/
Don't know if I'll pick this up again :/
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September 14, 2020Tw for attempted suicide, violent/murderous thoughts, racism, islamophobia, sexism, verbal and physical abuse, alcoholism, religion, death of a child, depression and attempted infanticide
I'm not going to rate this book to not lower the overall rating because I know this is an important book, we need books this diverse with Muslim voices that are allowed to critique the west.
But my rating of this book would be very low. The writing is painfully bad, the sentences are super short and almost stream of consciousness like, the girls are apparently constantly laughing even when it doesn't fit the situation at all and the transitions are non-existed to so poor, you're constantly confused what is actually going on. The two POVs sound exactly the same, there is nothing that distinguishes the two main characters from each other. I also felt like the overall story was very disjointed and while some scenes were just overdramatic, others were very understated. Overall though I was so put off by the writing and the complete lack off reason for these two characters to hate each other and basically everyone around them as much as they did, that I didn't really get anything out of this story, which is very sad since I know there is some important commentary in this.
I'm not going to rate this book to not lower the overall rating because I know this is an important book, we need books this diverse with Muslim voices that are allowed to critique the west.
But my rating of this book would be very low. The writing is painfully bad, the sentences are super short and almost stream of consciousness like, the girls are apparently constantly laughing even when it doesn't fit the situation at all and the transitions are non-existed to so poor, you're constantly confused what is actually going on. The two POVs sound exactly the same, there is nothing that distinguishes the two main characters from each other. I also felt like the overall story was very disjointed and while some scenes were just overdramatic, others were very understated. Overall though I was so put off by the writing and the complete lack off reason for these two characters to hate each other and basically everyone around them as much as they did, that I didn't really get anything out of this story, which is very sad since I know there is some important commentary in this.
October 4, 2018
Wtf was this book? How was this published? How did it win an award? WHO TALKS LIKE THAT? DOES HE READ YA BOOKS? I honestly do not understand???
The concept is fine...the plot twist 😹😹😹🤣🤣🤣😒😒😒🙄🙄🙄
I really want to support Muslim authors and all that but this book was so badly written and the plot was terrible and the writing style and everything was A MESS IT IS A JOKE
Well done for TRYING TO TALK LIKE A BRITISH TEENAGER AND JUST MAKING THE WHOLE BOOK CRINGEY AF I’m sorry I cannot recommend this book to a British Muslim teenager as they would read it and be like wtf or die laughing at how badly cringe it is 🤷🏽♀️
The concept is fine...the plot twist 😹😹😹🤣🤣🤣😒😒😒🙄🙄🙄
I really want to support Muslim authors and all that but this book was so badly written and the plot was terrible and the writing style and everything was A MESS IT IS A JOKE
Well done for TRYING TO TALK LIKE A BRITISH TEENAGER AND JUST MAKING THE WHOLE BOOK CRINGEY AF I’m sorry I cannot recommend this book to a British Muslim teenager as they would read it and be like wtf or die laughing at how badly cringe it is 🤷🏽♀️
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November 21, 2015Very entertaining to read, but geared towards a British audience. However, the book deals with issue of Islamophobia very neatly, and the characters' wit deconstructs all types of stereotypes that pervade our world today.
February 5, 2022
Great concept, poorly executed.
July 20, 2022
This was such a painful read. As much as we need diverse voices, this one was so poorly written, I don't know how I could recommend it. I gave it an extra star because of the inclusion Muslim communities and culture.
July 12, 2019
Interesting book. I liked how it discussed both girls upbringing and their family dynamics.
April 9, 2021
It's a very emotional, well written and enjoyable read.
May 24, 2021
i think it's amazing
wonderful plot twist
wonderful plot twist
October 26, 2022
3.3 good
April 14, 2024
yeah man this was deep
March 6, 2018
Picked up this book as one of my students had read it and returned it. The beginning of the story was not as great as the ending. It took me a while to get into it and I did at one point think about putting it away. However, when I got to the middle of the book, I was really into it. I was quite shocked at the end and it did fill me with a few tears. But I felt like the ending of the book was a bit too rushed. Overall, a very good read.
September 20, 2015
What started out as a typical, coming of age book about a girl's quest to find her identity quickly acquired depth with various problems surrounding the main characters.
It was an easy and fast read, but I disliked the ending because the story builds up rapidly and ends rather abruptly, belittling the validity of the previous problems faced by the characters.
It was an easy and fast read, but I disliked the ending because the story builds up rapidly and ends rather abruptly, belittling the validity of the previous problems faced by the characters.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews