May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, All through the month, Content Bookstore, the bookstore where I work, featured staff picks from our favorite Asian American and Pacific Islander authors. I had the fun of reading an excellent Children’s Midgrade novel by a Minnesota author, Nina Hamza. I don’t know Nina but she is well acquainted with some of my writer friends like my writing teacher, Kate Hopper, who recommended the book to me. Thanks, Kate!

My staff pick was featured on the Kids’ Content social media on May 14th and now I am sharing it with you here on my blog!

Here is my mini book review of AHMED AZIZ’S EPIC YEAR by Nina Hamza

Ahmed is a smart kid who has done his best to fly under the radar and do as little as possible to get by in school. That all changes when his family moves from Hawaii to Minnesota so his Dad can get medical treatment, and Ahmed gets a new teacher who assigns three books to read throughout the year (HOLES, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, and FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKENWEILER). Ahmed, who has sarcasm and underachievement down to an art, surprises himself by actually liking the stories. Not that he’s going to admit it, at least not at first, because he’s far too busy fending off the school bully, doing his best to fit in as the only brown-skinned Muslim kid at school, and dealing with the fact that his Dad is in the hospital. Ahmed has a lot going on with school and family—and the Minnesota weather—but with the support of a loving family, a wonderful teacher, a new group of friends, and stories that teach him lessons along the way, Ahmed really does have an Epic Year. A wonderful debut novel geared towards the middle-grade reader that will be enjoyed by YA and adult readers as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year and I think you will, too! The novel, which came out last summer, is currently available in hardcover from your favorite Indie Bookstore. Planning a road trip with the kiddos? You can listen to the audio version of the book as well through Libro.fm.