Broken Moon

Nadira's life is set out for her. As a young woman in modern day Pakistan with a dreadful scar on her face, punishment for a crime committed by her eldest brother, she has little hope for marriage. Instead, she works hard as a maid and cooks for a good family, and gives all that she saves to her mother and young brother Umar. Umar adores Nadira, and is the only one who does not view her scar as something despicable. But then one day Umar disappears, kidnapped by men who would train him in the dangerous ways of a camel jockey, With little hope of the police finding him, Nadira cuts her hair and dares to follow him, using all of her skill and chai in order to survive the cruel and tragic way of life and bring her brother home safely. Broken Moon is mesmerizing. Though virtually unheard of, camel jockeying is portrayed in a frank fashion, without shying around the horrors of it: abuse, starvation, injury, and death. But yet this story isn't all dismal. It's full of hope and courage as Nadira, intelligent and resourceful, bravely disregards the standards her society has set for women and forges her own way in this new world. Though readers may feel impatient for the action, they won't be disappointed if they stick through with the book. Broken Moon is an uplifting and empowering read. The Compulsive Reader [...]

Although Nadira is eighteen, she is very small in statute. Living in Pakistan, she was attacked at twelve by men who were seeking vengeance on her older brother. They left her with a moon-shaped scar on her cheek, which symbolizes her ruination for any future as a wife. She can only work as a servant. After her father's death, Nadira, her mother, and her little brother, Umar, move into the home of her mother's mean-spirited brother. Working as a servant, she can only visit her mother and her six-year-old brother infrequently. When she is suddenly summoned home, she discovers that Umar has been kidnapped. Although, she and her mother believe that her uncle has sold Umar, Nadira's goal becomes finding and rescuing the child. She fears that he has been sold to the desert Bedouins to become a camel jockey. Determined to save Umar,Nadira disguises herself as a boy and volunteers to be sold. Her offer is accepted. Told in the first person, Nadira, who was educated by her father, keeps a journal addressed to her little brother telling him of her toils trying to rescue him. The author not only gives us a kind, determined protagonist, she exposes the mistreatment of small boys who have been enslaved to care for and race camels. This virtually unknown trade in small boys, which continues today, serves as a horrific background to an amazing adventure.

This culturally rich story is set in present day Pakistan. Nadira's older brother, Rahman, was accused of inappropriate behavior toward a girl in the village. He claims he's innocent and many believe him. Though his guilt is never proven, a crude form of "justice" is meted out regardless. It is the custom that male relatives of a female victim have the right to retribution by inflicting similar harm on a relative of the accused. The father and brothers of the girl who claimed Rahman assaulted her are free to inflict punishment on Rahman's younger sister, Nadira. Through no fault of her own, Nadira is now considered spoiled goods. She has no hope of marriage and a family of her own, but she does have her younger brother, six-year-old Umar, who she dearly loves. When Umar is kidnapped, Nadira at first loses herself in grief, but then develops resolve and a plan to find him. Without regard for her own safety, Nadira travels into the desert in an attempt to rescue her beloved little brother in this wonderful story of sacrifice, redemption and love.