English Year 9 - Does My Head Look Big in This?: Home

The slide opened and I heard a gentle, kind voice: What is your confession, my child?
I was stuffed. The Priest would declare me a heretic; my parents would call me a traitor...
The Priest asked me again: What is your confession, my child?
I'm Muslim. I whispered.

Welcome to my world. I'm Amal Abdel-Hakim, a seventeen year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim still trying to come to grips with my various identity hyphens.

It's hard enough being cool as a teenager when being one issue behind the latest Cosmo is enough to disqualify you from the in-group. Try wearing a veil on your head and practising the bum's up position at lunchtime and you know you're in for a tough time at school.

Luckily my friends support me, although they've got a few troubles of their own. Simone, blonde, gorgeous and overweight – she's got serious image issues, and Leila's really intelligent but her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than her high school certificate!

And I thought I had problems...

This interview for Words without Borders magazine article interviews Randa Abdel-Fattah and discusses her experiences as a Palestinian in Australia, how her professional life has influenced her work as an author, and her views on interfaith groups.

Randa Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney in 1979 and grew up in Melbourne. She has written nine young adult books inspired by her research on racism, including Does My Head Look Big in This? Ten Things I Hate About Me, Where the Streets Had a Name, Buzz Off, The Friendship Matchmaker, The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover, No Sex in the City, Jodie and the Book of You, and Rania and the Book of You. She worked as a litigation lawyer for ten years and is currently pursuing a PhD exploring everyday multiculturalism and racism in Australia, and remains passionate about my human rights activism....continue reading...

This article presents an interview with author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Abdel-Fattah and discusses her book "Does My Head Look Big in This?". She discusses how her experiences as a Muslim has influenced the story, her concern for women's rights, and why she decided to write her book through the voice of a teenager. Also discussed is the oppressiveness of popular culture, the obsession with body image, and prejudice in the world.

The eBook format of Does My Head Look Big in This? is available via ePlatform here.

In this From the Lighthouse podcast, Michelle Hamadache talks to Randa Abdel-Fattah about her very first novel, Does My Head Look Big in This? From the Lighthouse is a literary podcast published by the Department of English at Macquarie University. 

Follow Randa Abdul-Fattah on social media:
 

 @randaafattah           

  @RandaAFattah