Amina's Voice / Amina's Song

Chapter 1 1


As I reach for a pair of silver earrings that my best friend, Soojin, might like, Zohra smacks my hand away.

"Don't touch anything!" she hisses.

"How am I supposed to look, then?" I laugh as I rub my wrist.

"With your eyes, and then keep walking. Tell me what you like, and I'll go back and get a good price."

"What if I want to see something up close?" The market is overflowing with a dizzying array of goods-rows of glittery bangles in every color imaginable, bolts of silky fabric, and mounds of beaded slippers, hair accessories, and evening bags. It's all screaming to be picked up, or at least photographed. I've already taken at least fifty photos and videos, and we've only been here for half an hour.

"Don't act interested in anything, Amina! And put your phone away." Zohra's tone is firm, and she suddenly sounds more like my mother than my sixteen-year-old cousin.

I glance at my older brother, Mustafa, who's walking a few paces behind us, like a bodyguard. He's dressed in dark jeans and a T-shirt, and his short scruffy beard makes him look older than Zohra, even though they're the same age.

"Do what she says." He shrugs. "You don't want to get ripped off."

I slip my phone back into my bag, resist inspecting the earrings, and keep moving. It took a bit of convincing to get Zohra to bring us here, instead of the fancy shopping center we've already been to twice in three weeks. Being there made me feel like I was back at Southridge Mall in Greendale, Wisconsin, instead of where I am: Lahore, Pakistan.

I've been wanting to visit Anarkali Bazaar despite Zohra's warnings about pushy salespeople and pickpockets. Mustafa and I grew up hearing Mama's stories about how she'd wait for school to end and catch a rickshaw here when she was a teen. When she described sharing freshly squeezed sugarcane juice and spicy samosa plates with her girlfriends in vivid detail, I could almost taste them.

My hopes of finally tasting

Hena Khan is a Pakistani American writer. She is the author of the middle grade novels Amina's Voice, Amina's Song, More to the Story, Drawing Deena, and the Zara's Rules series and picture books Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, Under My Hijab, and It's Ramadan, Curious George, among others. Hena lives in her hometown of Rockville, Maryland, with her family. You can learn more about Hena and her books by visiting her website at HenaKhan.com or connecting with her @HenaKhanBooks.