Tariq Mehmood is an award winning writer and film-maker. His books include Hand On the Sun (Penguin), While There Is Light (Comma). He co-directed the award-winning documentary Injustice. He currently teaches at the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon and lives in Beirut and Manchester.
'You're Not Proper is a real insight into communities more often talked about than listened to. But it's not just an important book - it's full of heart and a cracking good read as well. Highly recommended!' (Melvin Burgess). 'Contemporary and hard-hitting, You're Not Proper is the story of two girls with one religion and two very different lifestyles ... High on impact and highly engaging, it truly is a story of our age.' (Jake Hope, critic, librarian and coordinator of the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award). "Mehmood gives us a sterotype-quashing, timely novel about religion, gender, and families. He is as astute about class difference and social injustice as he is about the growing Islamophobic racism hijabis face both in their everyday life and when the EDL come to demonstrate. Mehmood also writes very richly about South Asian food, the diverse congregations of mosques, and what instant messaging is doing to the English language. Despite all the conflict along the way, the novel ends on a note of reconciliation between light and shade. You're Not Proper sounds a resonant, authentic note that cuts through the monotone voices coming out of YA writing." (Dr Claire Chambers, Huffington Post). "An excellent book! Mehmood does an excellent job of describing what every day life is like in Manchester for Kiran, which will be fascinating for US readers. Too many times, the only British books that make it across the pond are about middle class, white children whose main concern is saving the world from some fantasy villain! This read quite a lot like a Jacqueline Wilson book with Pakistani characters. I gave this to one of my students, an avid reader who recently took to wearing a hijab, and her eyes lit up when she saw the title. 'That's exactly what MY family said!' Her background in Somali which is more in line with the teenagers' experiences in You're Not Proper rather than the experience of many of my students". (Ms Yingling Reads, Teacher / Librarian/Blogger, USA).
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