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Review:
The Glory Garage: Growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia by Nadia Jamal and Taghred Chandab Read by Melissa Eccleston Hawthorn, Vic : Louis Braille Audio, 2006
41/4 hours, 4 CDs
ISBN 0 7320 3135 4
The Glory Garage: Growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia by two journalists, is an interesting collection of short stories about the experiences of young girls growing up Lebanese Muslim in Australia. It aims to tell the stories of real people growing up in migrant families who have kept rigidly to their religious beliefs, and to give an insight into the Islam religion.
The reader Melissa Eccleston, gives an Australian voice to the young Muslim women, in an expressive narration of different aspects of their lives. Her voice is easy to listen to and captures the lives and hopes of young women who are often caught between two cultures. Conflict is convincingly communicated. The listener becomes engaged with the racism that the girls encounter, the problems faced at school and with boyfriends, and the difficult choices that they are forced to make.
The different stories are well paced in this quality reading and the listener is left with an indepth understanding of the Islam religion and the lives of the young women. It would be a useful additon to school libraries, as individuals could use it for personal enlightenment, and it would fit into both the English and Society and Environment curricula.

Pat Pledger

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