The djinn's apple

In the Arab Abbasid caliphate of Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad, 14-year-old Nardeen Baramika seeks revenge on the man responsible for her family's deaths in this novel from Algeria, translated from Arabic. Having fallen out of favor, the once-powerful noble Baramika family, who are Muslims of Persian origin, are being hunted down and executed by al-Rashid. But when the caliph's men discover the family's new home, Nardeen's nonpolitical father--a physician and transcriber of medical texts--sends a confused Nardeen outside to safety, promising to follow with the rest of the family. After returning to find Baba, Mama, and her three siblings murdered and branded as Zoroastrian apostates implicated in poisoning the caliph's cousin, Nardeen is beaten unconscious by a servant of Al-Aasefi, a family friend turned accuser, who's seeking a manuscript Nardeen saw in Baba's library. After she comes to in the Bimaristan medical school, Nardeen learns she's slated to be sold into slavery, but she impresses Muallim Ishaq, a respected and renowned Jewish medical professor, with her strong memory and medical knowledge. The professor, who respected Nardeen's father and feels sorry for her plight, buys her and helps her prepare to seek vengeance. But as Nardeen grows in knowledge and cunning, she finds herself running out of time to untangle the complicated truth. Morani weaves a compact and compelling tale of revenge, intrigue, and moral ambiguity with a fascinating historical setting. An engrossing mystery with a haunting and convincing conclusion. (map, glossary, historical notes) (Historical mystery. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This short historical novel, translated from Arabic and set in early ninth-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, immediately grabs the reader's attention. Nardeen, a headstrong, brilliant oldest child, is 12 when her family is murdered in their home. She narrowly escapes and finds herself in Bimaristan, the very hospital where her father trained as a doctor. His legendary teacher, Muallim Ishaq, takes her in and accepts her as his only female pupil. Over years, Nardeen nurses the desire to avenge her family; she knows who the killer is but not his reasonings. Motives that initially appeared political become increasingly mysterious. Nardeen's narrative can be challenging to follow as little orientation to the setting is provided. But the plot (including an affecting romance) is compelling, as are her ruminations about loss, fate, and power. The book concludes with historical background and is particularly recommended for depicting daily life in a culture most readers only encounter in history class, One Thousand and One Nights, or fantasy fiction like Renée Ahdieh's The Wrath & the Dawn (2015). Grades 7-10. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.