Does My Head Look Big in This?

The slide opened and I heard a gentle, kind voice:
'What is your confession, my child?'
I was stuffed. The priest would declare me a heretic;
my parents would call me a traitor . . .
The priest asked me again: 'What is your confession, my child?'
'I'm Muslim,' I whispered.

Welcome to my world. I'm Amal Abdel-Hakim, a sixteen-year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim still getting to grips with my various identity hyphens.

It's hard enough to be cool as a teenager, but try wearing a veil on your head and getting in the 'bums up' position at lunchtime and you know you're in for a tough time.

Luckily my friends support me, although they've got a few troubles of their own. Simone, blonde and gorgeous, has got serious image issues, and Leila's really intelligent but her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than her high school certificate.

And I thought I had problems . . .

A story of being true to yourself, standing up for your beliefs and finding your own way.

About the Author

Randa is an award-winning author, former lawyer, regular media commentator and post-doctoral research fellow researching the generational impact of the war on terror. Randa is currently working on the film adaptation of her first novel, Does My Head Look Big in This? and is keen to use her intervention into popular culture to reshape dominant narratives around racism and multiculturalism. Randa has written eight other books, including Ten Things I Hate About Me, Where the Streets Had a Name, Noah's Law and No Sex in the City, and co-edited the anthology Arab, Australian, Other. She lives in Sydney with her husband and children.