Children's fiction: Burning Boats by Zaynab Dawood

Quote :

Burning Boats
Author: Zaynab Dawood
Publishers: The Islamic Foundation
Paperback, 140 pages,

About the book:
Tobay is a small fishing hamlet on a tropical coast which provides a modest though reliable provision for the local villagers. The village has always been a peaceful and safe place, however life has become disrupted by a power hungry individual, Abbas. Abbas resorts to threats, bribery and violence to fulfil his selfish desires to take control of the harbour and the surrounding farmland.
The people of the village both old and young rise to this challenge courageously but will their faith, wisdom and perseverance against all odds be enough to win the battle...

We got it only a few days ago for my ten year old. Mashallah, it is an excellent book, you feel you live with the people, you really feel their fears and their hopes. As you read along, you are gripped with the events and you want to know more. Even though there are moments of sadness near the end, it is not an unhappy book nor an unhappy ending. I have loved the style of writing, even though children will learn a lot about islamic manners, it is not a book on islamic education, nope, but the islamic messages flow with the style. The author has written a piece of fiction, not an essay on knowledge, and this is what makes this book really good (sometimes, you want to read islamic fiction but the author does not draw a line between imparting knowledge and storytelling and this what makes some fiction books so heavy to read, - Islamic fiction is fiction within the guidelines of Islam )
It reads in one sitting and it is difficult to put down. I will give it a 9 x

great for boys and girls alike. Available in many online bookshops.