Ask Me No Questions

This year I’ve been aiming to honor the different heritage celebrations by reading relevant books. May is AAPI month (Asian American and Pacific Islander), and this made Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos a perfect fit. It highlights a Bangladeshi family living in the United States and working towards updating their immigrant status, despite all the hurdles thrown their way.

Summary

After 9/11, fourteen-year-old Nadira and her family—all of them undocumented—are facing worse scrutiny for being Bangladeshi and Muslim. They fear deportation, especially now that her dad’s visa is expired. They flee to Canada, hoping to be granted asylum, but they are turned away at the border. The two parents decide to stay in Vermont as they go through deportation proceedings, while Nadira and her older sister, Aisha, will return to New York City so as not to miss school. These two sisters don’t get along well, but with only each other to rely on as they wait for their parents to return, they’ll need to learn to trust one another.

Review

Going into this, I didn’t realize that Ask Me No Questions is a young adult novel, but it’s readily apparent for its overall tone. Nadira is 14 and living in the shadow of her “perfect” older sister, Aisha. Their family is going through some unimaginably difficult times: facing anti-Muslim prejudice, possible deportation, and their family and futures being torn apart by cruel immigration laws. These are major topics, but they’re made so comprehensible here. We see it all through a girl’s eyes, distilling complex themes into something visceral and unambiguous. It was interesting to read a book set in the 2000s, a time I remember, but through a new lens.

Another theme I liked here was the dissection of a fraught relationship between sisters. Nadira and Aisha are four years apart, but they are so different and at odds with each other. Nadira often feels like she doesn’t live up to Aisha’s perfection, especially in school. They argue a lot at the beginning, but it takes major disruptions to their family to finally learn to lean on each other.

It was sad to see the family go through so much hardship. I really feel for all immigrants, and especially for those who must live in fear, or face discrimination for facets of their identity.

I listened to the audiobook version of Ask Me No Questions, narrated by Abby Craden. She did a wonderful job of capturing Nadira’s age, giving her a sweet, girlish voice. It allows listeners to really get into the mind of Nadira and see the world through her eyes.

Final Thoughts

Ask Me No Questions is a short book, but it packs in a lot of depth. I enjoyed following this family, especially the sisters, and getting to know more about Bangladeshi culture and a difficult immigrant experience. I’d recommend this to everyone, adults included.

Get the Book

You can buy Ask Me No Questions here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos
Audiobook Narrator	Abby Craden
Audience	Young Adult
Genre	Contemporary Fiction
Setting	New York; Vermont; Canada
Length of Book	4 hours
Format I Read	Audiobook
Original Publication Date	January 1, 2006

Official Summary

Deportation. Green Card. Asylum.

For fourteen-year-old Nadira and eighteen-year-old Aisha, these are the words that define their lives.

Nadira and her family are illegal aliens, fleeing to the Canadian border – running from the country they thought would one day be their home. For years, they have lived on expired visas in New York City, hoping they can realize their dream of becoming legal citizens of the United States. But after 9/11, everything changes. Suddenly, being Muslim means being dangerous. A suspected terrorist. And when Nadira’s father is arrested and detained at the border, she and her sister, Aisha are sent back to Queens, and told to carry on, as if everything is the same.

But of course nothing is the same. Nadira and Aisha live in fear they’ll have to return to a Bangladesh they hardly know. Aisha, once the academic star, falls apart. Now it’s up to Nadira to find a way out.

Now in its 20th paperback printing, Ask Me No Questions is a searing portrait of modern America in the days of terrorism, orange alerts, and the Patriot Act. It is a story of two sisters, one of whom must find strength to save her family.