Huda F Are You? - Huda Fahmy - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: Huda Fahmy

SERIES: Huda, #1

GENRE: OwnVoices Graphic Novel.

PUBLICATION DATE: November 23, 2021.

RATING: 4.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A OwnVoices graphic novel about the experiences of a hijabi American (of Arab-Muslim background) as a high-schooler in America. Excellent combination of humour and meaningful themes and social discrimination. Much recommended!

I first discovered Huda Fahmy’s work when I stumbled upon the delightful “That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story”, a graphic novel about how she met her husband. Her wit and her intelligence both are on ample display in her books and her Instagram page. So when I got the ARC of her upcoming work – the third book of the Huda series, I finally decided to catch up on the first two.

I adore the name of this series! Using her own name in this twisty pun is such a creative idea, especially when it represents the way her name is mangled by many USians.

This first book of the Huda series deals with Huda’s experiences as a Hijabi student in Dearborn, Michigan. Huda’s dad had immigrated to the USA from Egypt when he was a teen and after marriage, brought his wife to the country, intending for a short-term stay until he completed his education. However, the family ended up staying in the USA with their five daughters.

Despite being a Born-American, Huda was still looked upon as an outsider, mainly due to her hijab. This graphic novel details some semi-fictionalised experiences of her high-school years, when she was trying to understand her true identity, not just as a Muslim girl but also as a teenager. 

The story ends each stage of Huda’s identity crisis with a full-page graphic of her as a sort of statuette on a pedestal, with a caption indicating her latest self-loathing label such as “Huda F is a Coward” or “Huda F is a Fake”. I loved how well this idea worked not just to incorporate the titular pun into the plot but also to show us where Huda stood with respect to herself at that stage of the narrative.

The book depicts the genuine confusion of the troublesome teen years, when one is torn between staying true to oneself and accepting whatever others say just to fit in. The tremendous racism faced by Muslims in America even at the school level also comes out clearly through the narrative. (I can't begin to imagine how much worse it might be now under the present administration’s anti-DEI policy.)

I loved seeing Huda’s mom again, just as spunky as she was in “That Can Be Arranged”. Huda’s other family members also get a little page space. I’d love to know them better in subsequent books.

The story ends at a good point, so this book can be considered a standalone read with no cliffhanger ending.

The illustrations are in standard Huda Fahmy style. If you follow her page on Instagram, you will know the kind of graphics you can expect. Though simplistic in colouring and character expressions, the art style really works for the story. It’s always an advantage when the author is also the illustrator.

All in all, I absolutely loved this novel with its amalgamation of fun + serious. Though it has a lighthearted approach on the whole, it details several important themes and topics affecting minority Muslim teens in the USA.

Much recommended to all graphic novels readers looking for a meaningful semi-fictional OwnVoices work that’s rooted in reality.

4.5 stars. *Huda F* can stop me from rounding this up everywhere I can?

This was a library read. Looking forward to Book Two: ‘Huda F Cares?’