Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos

Becoming an accepted member of a country you do not feel is your home is an immaculate task that can be intangible at times. For Nadira and her family, this task proved to be more difficult than they originally thought. For this Bangladeshi family, obtaining citizenship was problematic, but after the September 11th terrorism attacks, it seemed almost impossible. Immigrants come to the United States for many reasons, including religious freedom, a fresh beginning, or tackling the American Dream. Even though it did not feel like home, Nadira, her sister, and her parents wanted to stay here because returning to Bangladesh was not the best option for them. How did Nadira find the courage to fight for her family’s acceptance in a world that is so brutal?
It is difficult enough to visit another country for an extended period of time, let alone wanting to live there permanently. After years of struggling with expired visas and passports and being sly about paying for necessary amenities, the Bangladeshi family thought seeking asylum in Canada would be better for them, especially since the oldest daughter, Aisha, was searching for a good college to study medicine at. “You forget. You forget you don’t really exist here, that this really isn’t your home. One day, we said, we’d get the paperwork right. In the meantime we kept going. It happens. All the time” (Budhos, p. 8). Their “home” felt even more foreign after September 11th. Being Muslim, they knew they would not be accepted. They felt threatened and trapped, so the plan to escape to Canada commenced, but tragedy struck when they found out Canada was “full” and could not take any more immigrants. With their dreams crushed and their father detained, Nadira and Aisha re...

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..., she made herself known: a 14 year old, illegal Bangladeshi girl fighting for her family’s freedom.
These contemporary issues of acceptance and privilege are ominously present in this novel as well as in the real world. Nadira came up with the courage to go out and explore possibilities to free Abba, setting aside her personal needs. She breathed. She took deep breaths and fought through issues of diversity because that is what she was told would get her through tough situations. After receiving a new application for residency, the family knows they have been accepted and they even use the word “home.” “And we do as he taught us. We hold our breaths, then let them out, bit by bit. We push forward, into the unknown. Go” (Budhos, p. 159). So much is left unknown, but her family and her community accept Nadira and most importantly, she accepts herself.