Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah is about 16 year old Jamilah, a high school sophomore from Australia who is struggling with her identity. Jamilah is Lebanese and also Muslim and absolutely loves her family's culture, religious traditions and beliefs, and heritage. The only problem is, she's terrified that the students at her school will find out about her background and she'll be bullied. Jamilah attends her Australian high school as Jamie, with dyed blond hair and blue contacts in her eyes. She hates it when the popular "anglo" students in her school tease and bully the "ethnic" kids, but she's so afraid they'll find out about her true self, she doesn't speak up. This becomes especially difficult for her as Peter, the most popular boy in school suddenly becomes interested in her. Jamie/Jamilah finds herself torn between desperately wanting to fit in at school and being comfortable and confident with herself and her background. When her grade's formal nears and her Arabic band is asked to play, she knows she must make a difficult decision about who she is, despite what others might think.This was a great book! It's interesting how the same types of problems occur in all different cultures and countries around the world. I really felt for Jamilah, trying to fit in at school and feeling like she needed to hide her true self from everyone. I would recommend this book to any girl who has ever felt she needed to be someone different just to be accepted.
