Djihad Online

by Morton Rhue

Khalil est comme tous les lycéens de son âge : il aime aller à des soirées, flirter avec la plus jolie fille du lycée, et a plutôt de bonnes notes. Mais si Khalil est né aux États-Unis, sa famille a une autre histoire. D'origine bosniaque, ses parents et son grand-frère, Amir, ont immigré des années plus tôt pour fuir la guerre.
La vie de Khalil ressemble peut-être à celle de n'importe quel ado américain, mais celle d'Amir est plus compliquée. Alors quand ce dernier commence à regarder les vidéos de prédicateurs d'un islam radical, Khalil se pose des questions... et décide de suivre les traces de son frère, coûte que coûte, plutôt que de le perdre.

Les États-Unis, deux frères, un choix.

Genres: Young Adult, Religion

295 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2016

About the author

Morton Rhue is a pseudonym of Todd Strasser and T.S. Rue

Reviews

[⊱ Poppy ⊰]

DISCLAIMER : No Racist comments P-L-E-A-S-E; I'm allergic to them.

✏"Let's address the Elephant in the Goodreads Room."

✏ First thing first, its PATHETIC to rate any book before reading it.

✏ Second, its in bloody LAW that we can write any-fucking-thing, no matter the subject.

✏ Seeing so many hate reviews make me laugh seriously guys what are you?? 7 or 6 !!

✏Be mature. Read the book then bloody review it as much as you like but you you don't even know what's in the book.

✏ Don't be a Islamophobic, Racist or any phobic; Just because it's about a Muslim who turn a terrorist because of the "Americans" doesn't mean you guys go CRAZY!!

✏ BTW Burn guys BURN. NOW you'll feel how many Muslims feel when some one say "ALL the MUSLIMS are Terrorist."

✏ Because we are NOT. and neither are American's bullying Muslims. So be mature DO NOT rate any book you haven't read.

✏ I am not saying that the blurb is right or not, its not my thing but give a book fair chance.

✏ I must confess; The cover is Offensive; because yeah deal with it, that guy is WHITE, atleast change it in a BROWN one.

✏ As I said i am not taking the sides, Muslim or not, American or Not; "Give a book; fair chance".

The speech is over' THANKYOU

[sraxe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only is it an old white man writing about an American Muslim kid's descent into terrorism...but it's being packaged and sold to a Young Adult audience? As if the current Islamophobic climate isn't bad enough already.

Fuck you Simon & Schuster. And fuck you Todd Strasser.

(The original blurb, which sounds very Boston Bomber-esque, seems to have gone poof.)

[Nasty Lady MJ]

At first I thought Strasser was a pseudo name for Donald J Trump. The country doesn't need this right now. What we need is smart books that address Muslim Americans and Muslims in general for the complex individuals that they are have many different backgrounds and come from a variety of cultures. This book's premises seems to sensationalize on a one dimensional view of these people that is frankly backwards. Frankly when I read it, I thought it was a joke. No thanks.

[Ayesha]

✏ Apart from the offensive cover, I don't think there is anything to cause a fiasco for. There is women hating in books by women sooo...nothing can guarantee correct representation. Although I do agree that there aren't many books with Muslim protagonists and they should have started out with something tamer and more positive in ya. But still the new blurb states Islam and Terrorism as two different things which is a great thing imo.

[E · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally give books I've not read a star rating, however I feel that this one deserves it. The original blurb really shocked and appalled me when I saw it on Twitter. I could not believe my eyes. The fact that a major book publisher thought that this type of book was ok, ESPECIALLY coming from a non-Muslim person, is really appalling.

The original blurb was gross, the cover is gross (that's some major whitewashing. They couldn't find not one pic of a non-white kid for that? Smh). Everything about this is gross. That the author thought it was ok to write this is gross, the fact that it's YA is gross.

In this current political climate full of racism and xenophobia, the publication of this book is beyond inexcusable.

[Mónica BQ]

What the hell were Simon & Schuster thinking?

[Sajda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really?! How the hell did this get approved? Smh

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should definitely read this book before rating it! It idolizes neither terrorists nor islamophobic people, so read it and form your own opinion.

[~bookisham]

update 2: yay the shitty blurb is gone (for good, i think) now the cover gots to go
___

update: lol they've added the blurb back and it's still shitty
___

ok, my initial thoughts when seeing the cover/title: what the fuck? is this real? no way can this be real? what the fuck?

after reading the blurb:
what? lmao??? this has been approved?!

after looking through the author's other books: oh ok. it seems as though the author has tackled some controversial topics in the past and according to the reviews, he's done it quite well. he appears to conduct quite thorough research before writing

looked back at the cover/title/blurb: did the words 'american' and 'terrorist' really have to be put together? in the same title? with a white-washed cover? really?? was that necessary???

as a muslim, it's quite difficult to ignore the fact that terrorism is a very prevalent issue in today's society, especially when you're walking down the street and people shout 'terrorist' or 'get out of my country' and are shocked when you have the audacity to talk back to them.
although the people that do this tend to think islam and terrorism are mutually inclusive- they are not. and i wish people would just have common fucking decency and not be absolute arseholes but there we go.

putting my personal/religious beliefs aside however, islamic terrorism is a thing that is happening. i will never go near this book because everything about it goes against everything i stand for but i do hope the author has handled the matter with the amount of respect that he's given to his previous controversial novels. i hope the readers get to see an accurate or semi-realistic portrayal of how brainwashing works because, believe it or not- NO, muslims are not brought up by their parents to hate the West. we are not brought up to be suicide bombers or kill members of our community. our religion is one of peace and the actions of a few should not allow generalisations to be made about the entire religion.

we live in a world in which we have been granted the gift of free speech, a society in which we pride ourselves on being accepting and a country (england in my case) in which, thankfully, we have the freedom of choice.
of course, i wish this novel was not a thing but apparently it is so i guess all i can do is choose not to read it and hope that those that do are not influenced into thinking that all muslims are terrible people.

(i do have to admit though- the original blurb/ cover and title have left me with no hope about the content but yeah, it's happening)

[Y · Rating 1 out of 5]

The fact that this has been published is disgusting and offensive. So little representation of Muslims and when there is we're depicted as terrorists.

Seeing everyone give this 1 star makes me so hopeful that this won't fly!

[Aroog · Rating 1 out of 5]

fuck this author. in a time of blatant and violent islamophobia, the last thing any Muslim teen wants to read is a story about how potentially monstrous they are, because that's what we get told in real life, by peers, adults, and the media. the publisher of this novel should be ashamed that they're putting this kind of mindless drivel that only exists to worsen the image of a vulnerable group out into the literary world.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

How the hell did anyone think this was okay??? This is so problematic for the community hat I can't even begin to put in words. Shame on you S&S. Not even mentioning the fact that it was written by a white man...

[Ioana]

To Do: Write scathing letter to editors at Simon & Schuster for even considering publishing such a filthy rotting piece of trash - FOR CHILDREN!!! FOR CHILDREN, I TELL YOU; work on this review.

So far, this comment takes the cake: "At first I thought Todd Strasser was a pseudonym for Donald Trump".... Well sadly apparently it's not just Donald Trump who's an uneducated simplistic moronic racist xenophobic jerk.

[Celeste_pewter]

Seriously, Simon and Schuster?

[Lenaya Fallin · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a false premise which I wish would die a fiery death once and for all; that one must read a book in order to have an opinion on it. I didn't need to read O.J. Simpon's "If I Did It", to know that it was a cynical ploy used by the publishers to cash in on tragedy and that Simpson was the last person whose account of those crimes I would touch with a barge pole.

Writers write, if we're any good we're always setting ourselves that next challenge, climbing that next peak, extending ourselves. For me it's about finding new ways to enter the minds of 'others' and their experience. I have no issue with Strasser for writing this book...he's doing what writers do...write.

I don't have much stick with S&S either. Most major publishers are money-grubbing whorehouses anyway, expecting anything like a social conscience or integrity (artistic or otherwise), is generally a lost cause. The only way to sting a corporate behemoth is to threaten its bottom line.

So Goodreads is protest by other means. The stars, the poor reviews are people's message to S&S: NOT WANTED. The publishers are watching and waiting, a certain amount of scandal makes your book a bestseller, too much too often and it can be time to give your CEO their golden handshake.

If this story were written by an Muslim-American author I would definitely read it. It's the kind of story which must be written from inside the culture out. As a POC, the blurb alone would have made me wonder about the writer's ethnicity.

It just doesn't ring true.

It's like being in a restaurant and being passed over for seating for the first time in the presence of a white friend. Now, in the past, you may have told them this happens to you from time to time and been met with gentle disbelief. 'They just didn't see you' or 'they didn't have the right table'; these are reasonable ideas.

Far more reasonable than someone preferring not to seat my black face in the center of their restaurant for Reasons. But one night, you're out with your white friend and the host gives you the Look; the one which floats over, through and around you to the next couple and calls their name.

Now your friend, while not as Look fluent, recognizes the two of you have been seen. The first response: shock. They spend the next few seconds telling you that they don't understand because the host saw 'us. I saw them see us'; you know over and over.

The second response: outrage. And not necessarily the controlled burn outrage you might pull the screen away from in order to be comped anything from appetizers to the entire meal, depending on the host's attitude and what kind of week you've had; but your friend is two shakes from supernova incandescent, *you're* calming *them* down.

Later, they almost always ask a variation on the same question, 'why aren't you more upset?'. After you laugh and tell them they couldn't have had both of you kicking off up in there, you tell them.

This experience is life. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Who has the energy to react to every single slight? But even that isn't the whole reason.

I remember the first time I became aware enough to ask my dad about the family arriving after we did, being seated first. As a child I was a huuuuge proponent of the notion of fairness and of knowing whose 'turn' it was. My dad said he knew, so had the people before that. He dealt with it...you know, it just now occurred to me how out of character it was for him to take something like that lying down. He's a proud guy.

But that morning he was just a guy taking his kids out for pancakes. And this person took it upon themselves to shame my Dad in front of us. The only thing which had spared the host up to that second, was our lack of awareness. A few moments and an apology from the manager later (that's what it took, involving the manager, to get seated while white people still remained in the waiting area) we were ordering breakfast.

But it was from that age I can remember being enrolled in my parents' version of 'Racism 101'. Mostly it was taught by example with helpful hints, discussions and loads of literature along the way. Two lessons were made clear: stand up for yourself and it's their problem, not yours. This way of living and thinking insulates me from feeling shamed, mostly. I've learned that standing up for yourself means rarely having to feel shamed by racist behavior.

And it can look like anything, whether it's playful: Taking it seriously when a guy is trying to rush you out of store by asking repeatedly if he can help you; Saying 'yes'...every. Single. Time. Refusing to accept lesser service than is your due gracefully: 'no, I would not like this table by the bathroom, thank you very much. I'll take one of the six or eight empties we passed during our trek out to wastelands.’

Occasionally and only occasionally do I rage against the machine. If I do, it's usually been a crap week and seriously: Dude I there is nothing left in the dregs of my goodwill toward man to make room for your nonsense. This person, much like the host from my childhood generally wishes a) they had never laid eyes on me or b) chosen to get out of bed that morning. And I will feel no shame for ruining their day, because racism is never, ever deserved and at its least offensive, looks like bad behavior by another name; whoever dabbles in it chooses to spin the roulette wheel and gets what they get. It's kind of like a relief valve.

So yes, my white friend, I'm not as angry about having to deal with a host's power games as you are. Welcome to my life, I'm not just visiting while hanging out with a friend or researching a book. I cannot leave it behind when we part company or when I move on to the next novel, having been 'enriched by the experience'.

I'm sure Strasser is a fine writer, but the kind of understanding necessary to adequately portray the inner workings of an Muslim-American teenager leaning towards extremism requires decades of lived experience and a wealth of generational knowledge. ETA: Experience and knowledge to which Strasser, however well-meaning and talented simply has no access. All he can do is botch the job and cause a lot of pain in process.

For instance, I doubt an Muslim-American author would have permitted the incendiary title and cover to go forward. Having had the word 'terrorist' thrown at them in the streets and their patriotism questioned by random yahoos; an Muslim-American author might strongly object to a title and cover art which frame their protagonist as a Muslim bogeyman. Maybe, I'm not sure. In spite of the injustices I've experienced, my experiences as an African-American woman are radically different from those of a Muslim-American.

Yes, it's true that families of color are forced to give their children a foundational education in coping with injustice. But there are first generation immigrants who come from places which make my Black angst look silly.

Thus endeth my rant. I now listen to those who know best.

[liz]

Dear Simon & Schuster,
I can't imagine why you didn't immediately set fire to this manuscript. But now's your chance. Do better. Be better humans than this. Don't publish a book with this message. I don't care what's between the pages. This is a terrible title and blurb ("a good American boy", REALLY?). Whoever approved this blurb should be fired. Immediately.

[Batool · Rating 1 out of 5]

fuck you Simon and Schuster for thinking this is okay.

[Silanur · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never, ever rate books before I read them. However, this is the sort of actual B U L L S H I T I can not tolerate. Who thought this would be a good idea? Who the fuck actually thought that publishing such a book on such a controversial topic would be a GOOD idea? Don't people think about how HARMFUL these types of books can be?

Seriously?

I'm so fucking disappointed. Guys, don't read this book. Don't promote it. Let it die and rot in hell.

[Jennie]

I wonder how many of those who rushed to give this a one-star rating (without reading one word, or even one letter or punctuation mark, of the actual book), also have said, "Don't judge the new Ghostbusters movie without seeing it first!"

[Aims]

Fuck off. Muslim student makes America want to pay. Fuck off with your stereotypes, your hate-fueled rhetoric. Fuck off.

[Jessie Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOPE NOPE NOPE

[Carrie Mansfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

I get that publishing is a business and that surely someone thought oooh, topical! They just also forgot to ads "tasteless as fuck" too.

[Melinda Beatty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is loathsome. You can do better, S&S.

[Naomi Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seriously ???

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ridiculous, never going to read a book that promotes such negative stereotypes.

[Ara · Rating 3 out of 5]

wth

[Rhode PVD · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my vote against this crud being published.

[Ashley]

Ugh, this is so offensive to Muslims. Stop equating Muslim with terrorist!

[LeslecturesdeMylene · Rating 5 out of 5]

17/20 - https://www.leslecturesdemylene.com/2...
ATTENTION, il faut lire ce livre pour le côté psychologique des personnages, la réflexion, le mal être latent et bien évidemment ne pas prendre pour argent comptant leurs réactions face à ce qu'ils traversent. Chacun est libre de penser comme il le souhaite et les faits sont durs mais ils existent vraiment. Cela n'est absolument pas un livre pour détester telle ou telle communauté mais plus pour comprendre pourquoi ils ne se sentent pas à leur place dans un monde qui ne veut pas d'eux... Bref, un livre qui fait réfléchir et qui secoue !!

[Yannic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein gutes Jugendbuch, um das Thema Radikalisierung anhand aktueller Geschehnisse aufzugreifen (besonders für Lehrpersonen, die nicht zum x-ten Mal die Welle lesen möchten). Leider kommt die Stimme des friedlichen Islams etwas zu kurz.