Nura and the Immortal Palace

Starred review from May 15, 2022
Will 12-year-old Nura be able to outsmart the trickster jinn and save herself and her friends? Nura lives in the fictional Pakistani town of Meerabagh, where she has worked mining mica to help support her family of five--her mother, herself, and her three younger siblings--since her father's death. In the mines she has the company of her best friend, Faisal, who is teased by other kids for his stutter, and she enjoys small pleasures like splurging on gulab jamun. Although Maa wants Nura to stop working and attend school, she has no interest in classroom learning and hopes to save up to send her younger siblings to school instead so they can break the family's cycle of poverty. Following a mining accident in which Faisal and others are lost in the rubble, Nura goes to the rescue. In her quest, she is plunged into the magical, glittering jinn realm, where nothing is as it seems. The author seamlessly weaves into the worldbuilding of the story commentary on real-life problems such as the ravages of child labor and systems that perpetuate inequities. An informative author's note further explores present-day global cycles of oppression as well as the life-changing power of education. This action-packed story set in a Muslim community moves at a fast pace, with evocative writing that brings the fantasy world to life and lyrical imagery to describe emotions. An enthralling fantasy debut exploring exploitation by those in power. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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Starred review from June 13, 2022
In fictional Meerabagh, Pakistan, clever, ambitious Nura and her friend Faisal, often teased for his stutter, mine mica scraps, reaching crevices too deep in the earth for adults to access. Though her widowed mother dreams of sending her to school, Nura concentrates her wishes on more immediate things, such as the sweets she can buy with her wages. Finally forbidden from mining, Nura determines to unearth the legendary and valuable Demon’s Tongue mica stone on her final day. When she digs too deep, however, and the earth collapses over Faisal, Nura delves even farther to save him, landing in the realm of the jinn, and at the Sijj Palace, an opulent jinn hotel. There she finds Faisal, and the duo face trickery from the jinn, who offer untold luxuries and attempt to maneuver human children into laboring for the hotel. Meticulous plotting and layered lore elevate Khan’s debut, while Nura and Faisal’s friendship grounds the high-stakes story about burgeoning labor consciousness. An author’s note contextualizes the importance of education as well as cycles of exploitation and forced child labor. Ages 8–12. Agent: Melanie Castillo, Root Literary.

Starred review from September 30, 2022

Gr 4-6-In a poor village in Pakistan, 12-year-old Nura digs for mica in the mines, helping support her widowed mother and three younger siblings, sometimes using her pay to buy herself her favorite sweet treat, gulab jamun. Mining is dangerous; it's how her father died, and Nura's mother wants her to stop. Nura promises she will after one more day, but that is the day the mine collapses and her best friend Faisal, along with several other children, gets trapped inside. When Nura risks her own safety to venture back into the collapsed mine to find them, she is lured into a magical jinn palace full of sparkle and riches beyond her wildest dreams, only to be tricked by the jinn back into the very same sort of child labor scheme she just left. Will Nura outsmart the jinn, find a way to escape the immortal palace, and save the trapped children? With expert pacing, Khan dishes out tidbits of Pakistani culture while readers remain absorbed in the high-action fantasy world, perhaps not realizing they are learning about the holiday Eid, a story from the Quran, or how gulab jamun tastes. While the wrongs of exploiting children evolves naturally as an integral theme of the story, the author tries a two-for-one approach, throwing discussions of education access into the mix alongside the obvious contradiction that it is our underserved heroine who outsmarts everyone at the end. VERDICT A strong purchase for any fantasy collection, but especially those wanting to feature culturally diverse stories.-Hillary Perelyubskiy

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Starred review from July 1, 2022
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Nura isn't what you would call a typical 12-year-old: because she has recently lost her father, she now has to work in the mica mines. Although Nura's mother wants her to quit, Nura refuses to give up until she finds a treasure that will pull her family out of poverty. After digging too deeply in the mines, Nura finds herself and five other kids drawn into the exorbitant, colorful realm of the jinn. When Nura gets tricked into a devious contract with the owner of a luxurious jinn hotel, she fights to break free so she can return home to her family. Khan's debut novel is an exhilarating ride from start to finish, immediately pulling readers into the story and presenting them with vivid imagery and a relatable protagonist who is both strong-willed and lovable. The quick-moving plot serves as a vehicle for both suspense and wonder, as Khan expertly weaves together traditional Pakistani folklore with the raw injustice of child exploitation and labor. Furthermore, the novel explores the themes of friendship, family dynamics, and class lines, giving the reader a view into two worlds: contemporary Pakistan and the colorful world of the jinn. This high-stakes, immersive fantasy will be sure to stay with readers long after they finish it.

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