Amal Mohamed Nasrullah Abdel-Hakim

Amal is a teenager who was born and raised in Australia. She is struggling to combine her Muslim religion with her identity as an Australian. When she attended a school with other Muslim students, she wore the hajib as part of the school uniform. However, she took it off as soon as she left school each day. As a high school student, Amal comes to realize that she is missing out on an important part of her connection to God by not being committed to always wearing the hajib.

Amal is intelligent and devoted to her friends, family, and her religion. She believes she has thought through her decision to wear the hajib by the time she wears it to class the first time. The decision causes problems from the first moment because the school has a strict dress code. Amal discovers she is more...