Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54(3) November 2010doi:10.1598/JA AL.54.3.4 © 2010 International Reading Association (pp. 190–198)

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Stephen PhelpsSchools have a legitimate

and vital role in providing

students with a better and

more accurate understanding

of the Muslim world.

Critical Literacy: Using Nonfiction to Learn About Islam

In our current political and foreign affairs environment, U.S. residents are in need of accurate information about Muslims and Islam. Unfortunately, media, popular culture, government officials, textbooks, and teachers are of-ten sources of stereotypes and significant misinformation (Abu El-Haj, 2002; Douglass, 2003; Suleiman, 2001). Muslim students are frequently the tar-gets of discrimination and violence ( Joshi, 2006; Sarroub, 2005; Wingfield, 2006) even as the Muslim population in U.S. schools continues to increase. Discussion of Islam in public schools is complicated by a misperception that equates “teaching about religion”—legitimate inclusion of religion as a topic of study—with Constitutionally prohibited “teaching religion”—the promo-tion or practice of a particular religious belief (Haynes, 1999; Moore, 2006). Also, there are sensitive ideological issues in which traditional Islamic and secular Western discourses may diverge, often perceived as too “hot” to bring up in school (Hodge, 2002; Wingfield, 2006).

With the September 11 attacks in 2001 and the United States’s involve-ment in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been a marked increase in the number of books about Islam and Muslims. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by and about Muslims are available for readers from middle school to high school. For this article, I have chosen works of nonfiction and one work of historical fiction that are representative of post–September 11 writing about Islam and Muslims. Each of these texts is well written and addresses issues pertinent to a critical understanding of contemporary Islam.

The purposes of this article are to counteract some common stereotypes of Muslims and Islam and suggest how nonfiction materials might anchor a critical literacy study of Islam and Muslims in middle school or high school, with special attention to the potential for engaging students in a critical appre-ciation for the cultural and ideological diversity within both the worldwide and the Muslim American communities. The article suggests ways that a criti-cal reading of one or more of these texts might disrupt common stereotypes and prejudices that many Americans may have about Islam and Muslims.

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Islam in the World and the United StatesIslam is often cited as the fastest-growing religion in the world. An estimated 1.3 billion people, or roughly one fifth of the world’s population, are nominal-ly Muslim. Indonesia, Pakistan, and India have the largest numbers of Muslim citizens. Estimates of the number of Muslims in the United States are wide-ly debated and range anywhere from 2 to 10 million. The U.S. census does not count people by religion, and surveys by Muslims and non-Muslims differ greatly in their methods, reliability, and results. The Pew Research Center (2007) estimates that there are 2.35 million Muslims in the United States.

Muslims recognize a worldwide community of faith, or ummah, in which all Muslims are connected through their common beliefs. Nevertheless, there are many variations of Islam worldwide. Among North Americans, the best known instance of Islamic diversi-ty is probably the branches of Sunni and Shia, a division that goes back to questions of leadership in the eighth century, but has taken on geopolitical significance in the 21st century. But Islamic belief is far more diverse than that. As Islam spread across the world, it took on cultural variations of those who embraced it, from North Africa to South Asia and the Far East. Islam has also evolved through various interpretations of schol-ars, clerics, and practitioners over the centuries.

Today, Islam is practiced in Islamic societies such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, in countries such as Turkey and Egypt that have attempted to separate church and state, and in Western democracies in Europe and North America. While some countries use a version of Islamic law (i.e., sharia) for all aspects of civil and political life, other predominantly Muslim countries such as Indonesia confine sharia to mainly family and domestic issues. Muslims within any of these settings are likely to range along a continuum of practice similar to that of Western Christians and Jews, from the fervently, conservatively devout to the “lapsed” or nonpractitioner.

Muslim Americans are an exceptionally di-verse group of people. Common stereotypes are that Muslims are all Arabs, and all Arabs are Muslim. In fact, most Muslim Americans are not Arab, and most Americans of Arab descent are in fact Christians.

Sixty-five percent of U.S. Muslims are first-generation immigrants. Of these, 37% come from Arab regions, and 27% are from South Asia (Pew Research Center, 2007). Approximately 20% of U.S. Muslims are native-born African Americans (Barrett, 2007). It is clear from all estimates that the Muslim American population has grown vastly since the 1980s, largely as a result of immigration.

Hegemony is maintained when members of a dominant group can marginalize others by perpetu-ating stereotypes and casting the others as foreign, ex-otic, or dangerous. This has clearly been the case with dominant perceptions of Islam among Americans, especially since the events of September 11, 2001. Although Muslim Americans are close to the U.S. general public averages in education, employment, and income (Pew Research Center, 2007), Muslims are nevertheless the object of discrimination and ste-reotyping in schools and elsewhere (Hodge, 2002; Joshi, 2006; Moore, 2006; Sarroub, 2005.)

Unfortunately, many U.S. citizens are poorly informed about Islam. What information they have comes from mainstream media and popular culture, which have given superficial portraits at best and downright harmful depictions at worst. Popular me-dia use terms such as Islamic militants or Islamic terror-ists, equate Islamic fundamentalism with terrorism, and portray Muslims with exaggerated, stereotypical physical features or appearance, such as traditional dress, men with beards, or women wearing the hi-jab, the traditional head covering. The result is Islam often being portrayed as foreign, exotic, and intrinsi-cally violent. Government and elected officials have also been frequent sources of misinformation and disinformation.

As a single example of the results of such stereo-typing, consider the recent incident when a family of eight Muslim U.S.-born citizens were removed from a f light at Reagan National Airport and questioned by F.B.I. agents because of a discussion over the saf-est place to sit on an airplane. In order for Muslim Americans to gain access to the political, cultural, and social mainstream, and for the United States to func-tion responsibly and effectively in global affairs, it is essential that U.S. students have a better appreciation of the history, nature, and tenets of Islam.

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An Overview of Critical LiteracyGiven the cultural and ideological issues at play in any understanding of Islam, the theories and practices of critical literacy can provide useful guidance to teach-ers who see the need to address the topic. Critical lit-eracy goes beyond a skills-based approach based on

higher level comprehension and interpretation of complex issues by introducing a decidedly socio-political and ideological dimension (Cervetti, Pardales, & Damico, 2001). Critical literacy posits that “the ideological foundations of knowledge, culture, schooling, and identity-making are...unavoid-ably political, marked by vested in-terests and hidden agendas” (Kelly, 1997, p. 10). A critical literacy lens

helps reveal the social functions of texts in position-ing individuals and groups of people. Texts are not neutral representations of reality, but rather socially constructed artifacts that “represent particular points of views while silencing others and inf luence people’s ideas” (Luke & Freebody, 1999, para. 20).

Critical literacy places particular emphasis on issues of cultural diversity and marginalized groups (Leland, Harste, Ociepka, Lewison, & Vasquez, 1999), another reason why such approaches may be particularly appropriate in teaching about Islam and Muslims. There are four dimensions to critical lit-eracy that are particularly relevant to teaching about cultural diversity (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002):

n Disrupting the commonplace—A critical per-spective challenges conventional assumptions and stereotypes.

n Interrogating multiple viewpoints—Readers are encouraged to consider multiple and contradic-tory perspectives and make difference visible.

n Focusing on sociopolitical issues—Students broaden and sharpen their understanding of so-ciopolitical systems and power relationships and engage in the politics of everyday life.

n Taking action and promoting social justice—Readers examine how language is used to maintain or disrupt domination; they question and redefine cultural borders.

Taken as a set of social practices, critical literacy can help students reconceptualize their views of Islam, their understanding of what it means to be Muslim in the United States, and their appreciation of what it means to be bicultural.

Multicultural Literature and Critical LiteracyThere are compelling reasons why multicultural liter-ature can contribute to critical literacy in the second-ary literacy and social studies curricula. First, accurate information about people of diverse backgrounds can promote understanding, appreciation, and tolerance within our pluralistic society (Alvermann, Phelps, & Gillis, 2010; Athanases, 1998). The resources de-scribed in this article present a varied and authentic picture of Islam and Muslims, particularly Muslims in the United States. These resources could be used in secondary literature and social studies classes to pre-sent a more realistic and nuanced view of Islam than is available in popular culture and the broadcast media, thus disrupting commonplace conceptions and inter-jecting multiple viewpoints.

For students of diverse cultural background, culturally relevant literature can offer personal vali-dation, promote positive identification with school, develop motivation to read, and scaffold the develop-ment of literacy in English learners (Flores-Dueñas, 2004; Meier, 1998; Tatum, 2005). Students of varied cultural backgrounds can question and redefine cul-tural borders and use their increased awareness to take action by engaging in the politics of everyday life.

Problems of representation occur when a hand-ful of books are used to exemplify complex and di-verse communities (Barrera & Garza de Cortes, 1997; Harris, 1997; Nieto, 1997). In the case of Islam and Muslims, this is illustrated by what might be called the “Shabanu syndrome.” Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples is an award-winning book that tells the story of a young girl in a nomadic tribe in the desert area of western Pakistan, perhaps the best-known example of young adult fiction about Muslims that continues to be widely used in schools. Although it is a well-written book with an interesting plot and a particularly compelling heroine, Shabanu has been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes of

Critical literacy

places particular

emphasis on issues

of cultural diversity

and marginalized

groups.

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Muslims with its desert setting, camels, patriarchal nomadic society, and arranged marriages (Crocco, 2005).

While the setting and plot are not necessarily in-accurate, the book does not ref lect the circumstances of millions of cosmopolitan and educated Muslims liv-ing in countries from the United States to Indonesia. When a book like Shabanu is the only exposure that students have to Islamic culture, it promotes a banal concept of “culture” that tends to essentialize people and gloss over diversity, differing perspectives, in-equalities, and histories of colonialism and interven-tion (Abu El-Haj, 2002).

Critical Literacy: The Challenges of Conflicting Points of ViewTeaching about Muslims and Islam should be cul-turally accurate and sensitive, but at the same time should not completely ignore areas where traditional Islamic and secular Western discourses may diverge. Opening up the classroom to diverse points of view may pre sent a challenge to dominant ideologies, but it can also reinforce entrenched stereotypes and es-sentialist rhetoric. Practical classroom application of critical theory is not for the fainthearted, and “trans-forming the curriculum to include Arab-American and Muslim views can require a measure of political courage and a tolerance for controversy” (Wingfield, 2006, p. 261). There are at least three areas where a teacher could anticipate contention between tradi-tional Islamic and secular Western discourses:

n The role of women (Armstrong, 2000; Cook, 2000)—Many Americans see the hijab as a sign of subservience and repression, for example, whereas many Muslim women see it as a sign of independence and pride in their religious and cultural heritage.

n The role of religion in politics, law, and edu-cation (Armstrong, 2000; Hodge, 2002; Lewis, 2002)—The extent to which sharia should gov-ern civil and day-to-day life is debated and en-acted differently within the worldwide Muslim community, but for many Muslims, the separa-tion of church and state runs counter to their

concept of religion as a governing force in every aspect of life.

n Conf licts between religion and secular science (Cook, 2000)—Science f lourished in the early centuries of Islam, while much of Europe was locked in what we call the Dark Ages. Today, there are distinct philosophies of science with-in the Muslim ummah, some of which conf lict with the epistemology of the scientific method (Loo, 2001).

Additionally, the issue of Palestine and the Palestinian people is one that resonates strongly throughout the Muslim community both in the United States and abroad; it is arguably the most sensitive and volatile issue that would be encoun-tered in a critical literacy study of Islam. Jerusalem is one of the main holy sites of Islam, and present-day Israel and Palestine have been home to Muslims almost since the advent of Islam in the seventh cen-tury. Muslims see Palestine as a symbol of Western domination, interference, and colonialism from the time of the Crusades to the present day. There is a perception among Muslims that the United States has been much less than evenhanded in its handling of the Palestinian–Israeli conf lict, and their complaints to that effect have often been rebuffed by charges of anti-Semitism and complicity in terrorism.

Some politicians and pundits try to frame these differences in ideological discourses as a kind of apoc-alyptic war of ideas ( Jackson, 2007), so it is important to state three important qualifiers to any discussion of so-called “culture clash.” First, there is much com-mon ground and many shared values among the Abrahamic religions: compassion for others, charity, family, seeking knowledge of God and the world, and social justice, to name a few. Second, there are also many similarities in ideology between traditional Islam and some Christian social conservatives in the United States on questions of morality and the role of faith in politics, government, family, and society. Finally, there is a good deal of diversity of thought across the worldwide Muslim community, including many progressive Muslim thinkers who contest both traditional interpretations of Islam and Western cri-tiques of the faith.

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Readers of this book might be asked to itemize the many conf licting points of view represented, as well as points of view that may have been omitted. What are the potential cultural and ideological con-f licts of being Muslim in an American middle school or high school? How are Muslim youth positioned by the dominant culture, and what responses might be available? How might those responses be perceived by members of the dominant culture?

In American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion, Paul Barrett (2007) profiles an interest-ing cross section of American Muslims, such as Khaled Abou El Fadl, a liberal Muslim scholar; Siraj Wahhaj, an African American imam; Mustafa Saied, a former fundamentalist firebrand turned moderate; and Asra Nomani, an outspoken and controversial Muslim feminist. One chapter is about Sami Omar al-Hussayen, a graduate student tried and acquitted on charges of aiding terrorists because of his work with Muslim websites; this case has raised important First Amendment issues. Barrett also includes an in-depth look at the inf luence of conservative Salafist and Wahhabist ideology in the United States, espe-cially with the recent inf lux of young Muslims from the Middle East and South Asia.

The treatment of these topics is generally bal-anced and liberal, showing both the moderate and more radical sides of American Islam. Barrett’s (2007)thesis is that no one knows which way American Islam will lean, but that there is much that can be done politically and socially to tilt the balance toward moderation. Readers might be asked to consider why Barrett chose the particular individuals that he pro-filed. What voices may have been omitted from these profiles? How does Barrett construct the realities of being Muslim in America, and whose purposes are served by this construction? What conclusions might he want his readers to draw, and are there other pos-sible conclusions?

U.S.-born Asma Hasan (2009) is a writer and frequent television spokesperson on issues related to the American Muslim community. She presents a first-person account of being a modern Muslim in the United States in Red, White, and Muslim: My Story of Belief. She dispels many stereotypes and attempts to elucidate issues such as gender roles, being bicultural,

Doing Critical LiteracyTeaching critical literacy is foremost a matter of guid-ing students to ask certain kinds of questions as they engage with text. The following are generic critical literacy questions that could be adapted to a study of Islam (Cervetti et al., 2001; Leland et al., 1999; Luke, 2000):

n What is the purpose of the text?

n How does the text try to position the reader?

n How does the text construct reality?

n Whose interests are or are not served by the ideas in the text?

n What worldviews are or are not represented?

n How are people marginalized by their culture, religion, or gender?

Such questions help students see that texts and top-ics are not culturally neutral and unveil the different ideological positions and voices that are involved in writing and reading a text (Luke & Freebody, 1999).

To illustrate how these generic questions might be applied to a study of Islam, I have chosen the topic of being bicultural and Muslim in America. Several good books address this, from which I have selected three. American Islam: Growing Up Muslim in America by Richard Wormser (2002) is an especially good source for detailing the experiences of Muslim American youth. It is a straightforward and easy-to-read treat-ment of issues on which there are diverse Muslim points of view, especially where Islam may diverge from some conventional American secular practices such as women wearing a hijab, the incompatibility of Islam with secular science, and gender roles and rela-tions within traditional Muslim communities.

Wormser (2002) also explores differences of belief and opinion between the Nation of Islam and tradi-tional Islam, especially on matters of race. The book dissects many of the issues of being bicultural in the United States, including prejudice, conf licts over as-similation, and the strength and pride resulting from one’s faith. Wormser helps counter an essentialist view of Muslims by showing the diversity within the American Muslim community.

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and varieties of Islam. She argues that American Islam is really the purest form of Islam, in part because there is no official group of religious scholars (ulema) in the United States to proscribe dogma; each Muslim must therefore make his or her own decisions based on the Koran, without the cultural baggage of traditionally Islamic countries.

Hasan (2009) is an avowed Muslim feminist who distinguishes between patriarchal culture and reli-gion. She cites the large number of women conduct-ing Koranic exegesis and explicitly discusses the rights of women outlined in the Koran as well as the com-monly cited verse (surah) that mentions wife-beating. Conservative Muslims may disagree with many of her interpretations and assertions.

As with the Barrett (2007) book, readers could deliberate on Hasan’s (2009) purposes for writing her book, and additionally appraise her authority as a bicul-tural Muslim American and a declared feminist. How does Hasan present the realities of being a Muslim American? What versions of culture, religion, and gender are constructed? What alternative versions are addressed, and are there alternatives that are omitted?

A key component of critical literacy teaching is prompting readers to take some sort of action based on their understanding of the sociopolitical and ideo-logical topography of a topic. This is perhaps the most difficult and potentially perilous element of critical literacy, and Lewison et al. (2002) note that this is often the least visible element of critical literacy in classes they have observed. Given the relatively con-servative nature of public schools, many teachers prefer to avoid any challenges to dominant political discourses (Luke, 2000). Also, in leading students to investigate, discuss, and act on inherently controver-sial issues, teachers must also take care not to impose their own ideologies.

Reading any of these resources and consider-ing the sociopolitical, cultural, and ideological issues therein might lead to several possible action steps. In a school with a sizable Muslim American population, Muslim and non-Muslim students might work togeth-er to discuss important issues, explore different points of view, and devise a set of guidelines or recommen-dations for improving cross-cultural communication

and appreciation within the school community. If there are few or no Muslim students in the school, readers might use their under-standings of one or more of these resources to formulate action steps for welcoming Muslim students—things they might do as well as things to avoid.

Adult members of the local Muslim American community might be invited to speak about their experiences and points of view. Depending on community resources, students might sponsor a forum with people representing different points of view on one or more of the issues uncovered in their critical examination. Finally, students themselves might be asked what actions they find implicit in what they have read and discussed.

Other PossibilitiesThere are many other topics that might be investi-gated in a study of Islam. In the following sections, I brief ly review other texts that might engage readers in rich critical considerations of modern Islam.

History, Facts, and TerminologyThere are many excellent books that introduce ba-sic concepts of Islam accurately and objectively, often with illustrations that make the texts accessible and attractive. As an example, Islam: Worship, Festivals, and Ceremonies From Around the World (Barnes, 2005), part of the publisher’s World Faiths series, relates the history of Islam and the life of the Prophet. Barnes explains the Koran, the Five Pillars of Islam, sharia, and Islamic contributions to science and art. Muslim customs, worship, and beliefs are discussed, includ-ing diversity within the Muslim community and the political aspects of Islam. This book is relatively short, straightforward, authoritative, and accurate, and is beautifully illustrated with both photographic and ancient artwork.

The author of Islam Explained, Tahar Ben Jelloun (2002), is a prize-winning North African novelist who

A key component

of critical literacy

teaching is

prompting readers

to take some sort

of action based on

their understanding

of the sociopolitical

and ideological

topography of a

topic.

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noted that “reading contrasting versions of a...histori-

cal situation, especially where at least one text takes a

critical angle, can help...to understand that texts are

never neutral: they are constructed by particular peo-

ple with particular goals and motivations” (p. 2).

Greenhaven Press specializes in the minigenre of

point–counterpoint books, including two on Islam.

Each is a collection of essays that lays out differing

points of view on Islam. Readers should be encour-

aged to follow up on these essays by looking at source

materials and judging their reliability and points-of-

view. To this end, a good list of Internet and other

resources is provided at the end of each book.

In Islam: Opposing Viewpoints (Dudley, 2004),

the editor explicitly says that the book’s purpose is to

promote critical thinking, discussion, and further re-

search. Main topics, each with six or seven essays rep-

resenting a range of perspectives, include the conf lict

of values between Islam and the West, Islam and vio-

lence, the status of women, and Islam’s future. Dudley

is generally forthcoming about the particular political

orientations of the authors in his introduction to each

essay, but this would require critical evaluation on

the part of readers. Each section ends with resources

for further study and questions for further discussion.

Some of the essays have sophisticated vocabulary (e.g.,

aberrations, exegetical, hermeneutic, Janus-faced) that could

pose problems for some high school readers.

Dudley’s (2004) book represents more varied and

nuanced perspectives than another Greenwood book,

Islam in America (Egendorf, 2005). A couple of these

essays are from right-wing sources and make claims

for which little or no warrant is given. For instance, a

chapter on the rights of Muslim women comes off as

bigoted, inaccurate, and unsubstantiated, and is taken

from ChronWatch, a conservative website, but that

attribution is not made clear in the book. Other chap-

ters are written by Muslim Americans who clearly

have their own agenda to promote. Teachers would

need to be vigilant in guiding students to fairly evalu-

ate the merits of the various arguments put forth in

the essays. Most were written prior to the Iraq War,

and consequently some of the takes on international

relations seem a bit dated.

lives in France. This book is an imaginary question-and-answer session with his daughter, in which he ex-plains Islamic tenets and history and the current state of global affairs, including violence done by some in the name of Islam. Ben Jelloun draws on the work of serious scholars and specialists, yet still presents the origins and history of Islam in easy-to-understand terms. He addresses many current issues and misun-derstandings such as the concept of jihad, terrorism, the Crusades, fundamentalists, and Western interfer-ence in the Muslim world. He recounts the many ac-complishments of Muslims through the centuries, but also laments that Muslim openness to learning and knowledge can sometimes be overshadowed by fights over political power.

Mosque (Macaulay, 2003) tells the story of a fic-tional admiral of the Ottoman Empire, circa 1600, who commissions the building of a mosque and reli-gious complex in Istanbul. In the award-winning style of Macaulay’s other works, this book features detailed text and illustrations that describe the design, build-ing, and use of these structures.

Haroon Siddiqui (2006) is a Canadian journal-ist, which gives his Being Muslim a unique point of view—North American but not U.S. He presents a history of Islam and tenets of the faith along with a critical look at issues, such as the status of women, ter-rorism, and Muslims living in Europe. He is critical of fanatic Muslim militants as well as Western attacks on Islam. There is a balanced discussion of the role of women, emphasizing the cultural and patriarchal—as opposed to religious—nature of gender oppression. He presents Muslim feminist viewpoints and makes distinctions between Western and Muslim feminism, equating Western feminist views of Islam with impe-rialism. Siddiqui also explains the broader meaning of jihad as a personal struggle and critiques the Western equation of jihad with terrorism and holy war. He closes with a hopeful look at the future, with a more moderate and humanistic Islam based on reforms that are coming from within the faith.

Opposing ViewpointsReading and comparing multiple resources, which is a traditional skills-based critical reading activity, also opens the way to critical literacy. Comber (2001) has

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In an analysis of post–September 11 teaching about Islam and Muslims, Jackson (2007) noted that Westerners remain divided in their understandings of Islam, and she maintains that “teachers and edu-cational policy makers are not free from considering or discussing this debate” (pp. 163–164). Although social studies textbooks can present a broad overview of the history and tenets of Islam, they neither capture the diversity of culture and belief within the Muslim world nor ad-equately address the issues of cultural assimilation and identity faced by Muslim youth in the United States.

Finding appropriate text materials about Islam and Muslims and using them to promote critical literacy are especially pertinent in our current social, cultural, and political context, given the widespread ignorance and misconceptions of Islam and pervasive prejudice and fear toward Muslims. Secondary students need an appreciation of the diversity in religious practice, national and cultural background, education, and so-cioeconomic status within the Islamic community. Muslim American students in particular can benefit from text that speaks to questions of identity formation and maintenance for Muslims in the United States.

A broad understanding of Islam and a consider-ation of multiple viewpoints would encourage stu-dents to move beyond a “good Muslim/bad Muslim” binary that demonizes any Muslim whose beliefs might diverge from dominant Western secular and political narratives. Most important, a critical appre-ciation of Muslim culture would allow individuals to take informed positions on complex sociopolitical and ideological issues that will continue to have vital im-plications for the international community.

ReferencesAbu El-Haj, T.R. (2002). Contesting the politics of culture, re-

writing the boundaries of inclusion: Working for social justice with Muslim and Arab communities. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 33(3), 308–316. doi:10.1525/aeq.2002.33.3.308

Alvermann, D.E., Phelps, S.F., & Gillis, V.R. (2010). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in today’s diverse classrooms (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Armstrong, K. (2000). Islam: A short history. New York: Modern Library.

PalestineGiven the centrality of Palestine and Israel to cur-rent events in the Middle East, it is not surprising that there is a sizable body of writing, both fiction and nonfiction, about this region. What follows is only a small sample of what is available.

In Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, Deborah Ellis (2004), an author of young adult fiction books about Afghanistan, gives excerpts from her interviews with Palestinian and Israeli children, ages 8 to 18. Recurrent themes include the desire to find normalcy in the face of death, destruction and oppression, and ignorance or hatred of the other side. The author’s introductions to each interview include information about the situation in the region, includ-ing Israeli settlements, suicide bombings, roadblocks and curfews, and refugee camps.

Mitch Frank (2005), a Time Magazine report-er, presents a thorough and balanced account of the history and issues in Understanding the Holy Land: Answering Questions About the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict. Information is presented in a question-and-answer format, with many black-and-white photos and maps. He also includes a timeline and glossary at the end of the book.

While Frank’s (2005) book strives for journalistic impartiality, Joe Sacco’s (2001) comic book documen-tary Palestine is a work of literature that is polemi-cal and clearly not “balanced.” In the early 1990s, he spent two months with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Palestine documents his experiences, in-cluding many interviews, in extraordinary comic book style. He portrays a nightmare existence of re-pression, poverty, and hopelessness, along with a good deal of historical detail. The author’s persona is partic-ularly interesting: self-effacing, cynical, detached in a way—but this effectively captures a general Western tendency to remain disengaged from unpleasant or politically inconvenient facts. This book would be for mature readers only, as it contains a good deal of pro-fanity and mature situations.

ConclusionIt is a legitimate role of schools to provide a better and more accurate conception of the Muslim world.

It is a legitimate role

of schools to provide

a better and more

accurate conception

of the Muslim world.

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Kelly, U.A. (1997). Schooling desire: Literacy, cultural politics, and peda-gogy. New York: Routledge.

Leland, C., Harste, J., Ociepka, A., Lewison, M., & Vasquez, V. (1999). Exploring critical literacy: You can hear a pin drop. Language Arts, 77(1), 70–78.

Lewis, B. (2002). What went wrong? Western impact and Middle Eastern response. New York: Oxford University Press.

Lewison, M., Flint, A.S., & Van Sluys, K. (2002). Taking on criti-cal literacy: The journey of newcomers and novices. Language Arts, 79(5), 382–393.

Loo, S.P. (2001). Islam, science and science education: Conf lict or concord? Studies in Science Education, 36(1), 45–77. doi:10.1080/03057260108560167

Luke, A. (2000). Critical literacy in Australia: A matter of con-text and standpoint. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 43(5), 448–461.

Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999, August). Further notes on the four resources model. Reading Online. Retrieved September 28, 2009, from www.readingonline.org/past/past_index .asp?HREF=/research/lukefreebody.html

Macaulay, D. (2003). Mosque. New York: Walter Lorraine.Meier, T. (1998). Kitchen poets and classroom books: Literature

from children’s roots. In T. Perry & L. Delpit (Eds.), The real Ebonics debate: Power, language, and the education of African-American children (pp. 94–104). Boston: Beacon.

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