In the Name of God

In The Name Of God by Paula Jolin was an amazing, yet emotionally difficult read. I have never read a book with this type of content yet, and it opened up my eyes to situations and events that I didn’t even really knew existed within novels. Not only did I learn and become empathetic to the Muslim religion and their lifestyle, but I learned about the different ways in which they live, communicate, and protect themselves that are so different from Americans. I think this book is so important to read in high schools, because it shows the students examples of different cultures, religions, and lifestyles that they might be blind to without literature experiences like this. Paula Jolin does such an outstanding job drawing the readers in, and keeping them on the edge of their seat. I know how intrigued I was while reading this, and I think that it is a great read for reluctant readers because it is different from probably anything they’ve ever read. It is action packed, emotional, and not extremely difficult to get through. There are many different activities and writing lessons that could come with teaching this book in a unit plan, and I think it should be a standard requirement for maybe juniors or seniors in high school. I think it is so important to expose our students to the themes and emotions presented in this book, because as I said before, they might not be regularly introduced or exposed to outside cultures, and this book actually touches on what goes on in the real world outside of America. It is so crucial that our students realize and are aware that there is so much more that goes on in this world than just what they see on the news in our country.