Odd Girl Out

16-year-old Maaryah has always lived a privileged life in Dubai but when her parents divorce, her whole world changes dramatically. Her now impoverished mother chooses to live near her family in England and suddenly Maaryah must adapt to a tiny house, a new school and the loss of the proximity of her lifelong friends. Her unhappiness is exacerbated when she discovers that she is the only hijab wearer at her school and the target of particularly venomous verbal and physical racial abuse.

Abdur-Rashid is skilled in exploring tensions in family and peer-group life and when Maaryah feels unable to speak out about her school experiences and her fractured relationship with her mother the author skilfully conveys her sense of complete and irrevocable displacement. Maaryah’s situation is somewhat eased when she makes three friends who she trusts and who do their best to support her but despite this her father’s lack of communication, her mother’s all-consuming grief and the pressures of school life take their toll on her. Her usual solace of working with fabric deserts her, especially after the design internship she won had to be abandoned on her departure from Dubai.

When Maaryah’s relationship with her mother deteriorates further she takes the drastic step of returning alone to Dubai to see her father and, hopefully, pick up her old life. She tells no-one and so is completely unprepared when she meets her father’s other family, of which she knew nothing. Abdur-Rashid has woven a fabric of problems and this is another thread, one which Maaryah is utterly unable to deal with – the endgame. When her mother flies to Dubai to support her, Maaryah realises that she belongs with her and, without her, Dubai is second best.

On their return to England, things move quickly and strategies are put in place to make her life at home and at school easier. Despite the rapid acceleration of the narrative it retains its veracity, principally because justice is done. Odd Girl Out has many strengths-the resilience of the human spirit, the richness of family life in all its guises, the joy of friendship and the acknowledgement of the power of diversity in our culture. It explores emotion fearlessly and skilfully avoids an over-neat ending.