By Huda Fahmy
“You don’t have to compromise what you care about to have a good time.”
Summary
Huda F Cares? is the story of a high schooler (Huda F) and her family taking a summer vacation to Disney World. During the trip, she wrestles with a long car ride, her four sisters, her parents, being visibly Muslim in a place where it’s less common than in her Michigan hometown, and potential new friends and creeps.
Quick Info
- Year of Publication: 2023
- Number of Pages: 208
- Awards/Nominations: National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Finalist, YALSA 2025 Great Graphic Novels for Teens
Why I Chose to Read Huda F Cares?
I’m a sucker for a clever name! And I’m always open to learning more about other people’s cultures, customs, and challenges.
Teaching Considerations
Audience: Booksellers list this as “12-17 years.” I’d read this to younger kids, as well, and believe it’s a great read for adults. The message is so strong, the format is so fun, and Fahmy has created an important, accessible story for all ages.
Key Themes: identity, sisterhood, family, Islam, fitting in, self-confidence, and harassment.
Grouping Recommendation: This could be a fun, full-class read. It’s perfect for the last weeks of school before summer vacation, and could work a student-choice option for lessons about identity, family, the USA, religion, travel, and the graphic novel format.
Instructional Ideas:
CHARACTER
Fahmy does a great job of setting up the sisters with quick intros, then detailing vacation days where we get to meet each of them and see how Huda F interacts with them.
Conflict is organically, efficiently, and effectively built into all the relationships through the well-constructed characters.
STORY
This is the story of a young woman who wants to fit in and learns, with the help of her sisters, that life is so much sweeter when you accept and stick up for yourself.
Key Illustration
– page 53
The most charged situations in the book occur when one or more of the sisters is kneeling in prayer. Describe a situation in the book where this causes conflict. Describe a situation where it helps the sisters bond.
Book Talk Excerpt:
***SPOILER ALERT!***
– pages 184 – 188
Here, we see Fahmy injecting subtext into her book quite brilliantly. What does she accomplish in these pages? How do you feel and think about Huda F after reading this? How do you feel and think about Kylie?
My Thoughts and Reflections
★★★★★
There’s so much transparency, humor, and depth in Huda F Cares? I really, really loved this book. Fahmy somehow writes simultaneously sharply and with grace. I enjoyed every page. Of course, I might be biased. I have two sisters, and the authentically rendered chaos and compassion resonated with me.
Topics/Ideas/Books/Authors I’m Curious About As A Result of Reading Huda F Cares?
This book made me want to find more great YA summer vacation-themed books! The Summer I Turned Pretty and Tanabata Wish look intriguing.
I’d also like to read more graphic novels that center family: Hey, Kiddo, Shame Pudding, Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir, The Best We Could Do, and When Stars Are Scattered.
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