Nura and the Immortal Palace

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Nura as a character sometimes came a bit arrogant but she is a lovely daughter and sister, her efforts toward friendship with Faisal were also a new element that I've rarely read in any middle grade. I did think some things happened a little too fast, and the writing was a little choppy at times, but it was also beautiful, and the emotions came through perfectly nonetheless. She digs and digs, deeper and deeper, until her efforts contribute to a mine collapse in which her friend Faisal is missing. It balances adventures and riddles to be solved with real conversations about child labor and about poverty.

Nura and the Immortal Palace | Centre for Literacy in Primary

There she finds Faisal, and the duo face trickery from the jinn, who offer untold luxuries and attempt to maneuver human children into laboring for the hotel. Despite being for a younger audience I found myself absolutely captivated by this adventure that not only transports you to a world rich in South Asian culture but also imparts significant commentary on child labour and the cycle of exploitation that many families face in the real world. Khan offers a vibrant world of chaotic creatures and decent heart, its tendency to overexplain adequately balanced out by its quick pace and wildly supernatural antics. Thank you NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange of a honest review.For the community Nura lives in, the jinn are more than childhood stories; they are sinister creatures to be avoided and never, ever trusted. In many cases, the method of excavating the mineral is illegal, deadly,and more often than not the workers hired for the job are children –some as young as five years old. Throughout the world, there is Desi culture sprinkled in through the clothing, food, and childhood stories of the Jinn. One of the best things about Nura and the Immortal Palace is how vividly the setting has been described.

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan | Hachette Book Group Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan | Hachette Book Group

I’m not sure the theme of the importance of education came through quite as strongly as it was intended to, but the ideas of money, and greed, and the cycle of exploitation were wonderfully done, and in an age-appropriate way that I hope a lot of children will be able to understand. She did make some rash decisions as well as assumptions (but who doesn’t) and she learns to acknowledge that. Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead.Children like Nura and Faisal, to this very day are being forced work risky jobs at a young age just so they can eat.

Nura and the Immortal Palace | M. T. Khan | 9781529503494 Nura and the Immortal Palace | M. T. Khan | 9781529503494

I cannot help but wish that younger me—Kurdish and Muslim me—could pick up this book and read it for the first time again. Some say it's a myth, but for Nura and the other child miners, it's the ultimate goal: if they find it, they will want for nothing for the rest of their lives.Perhaps this book will make some children appreciate the value of their own educational opportunities. She also dreams, as she digs through the dirt, of discovering the legendary treasure, the Demon's Tongue, and escaping the poverty, hunger and weariness of the life she has lead up to now.

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Guiding us into a mysterious and glitzyworld of jinn, serving us sweet bites of gulab jamun, all while shedding light on the chilling reality of child labor in our world, Khan's debut is one that will linger with me long after turning the last page. Nura is determined to save her friend, but in attempting this rescue, she lands up through a portal in the world of the jinn. The message of the story is interesting too – it’s about how trickery is a vicious cycle, one of the hardest things to stop.Education is not an option for these kids, they spent their day in a struggle to collect the most mica to earn more. When Nura digs too deep, or too carelessly, in the mica mines one day, the tunnels collapse and the children are horrifyingly trapped under mounds of dirt and stone.