Seven Daughters and Seven Sons

The last time I read this YA novel I was actually in the intended age group. To my happy surprise, it is just as good as I remember. Based on an Iraqi legend, the novel follows Buran, one (the Elizabeth Bennet one, to be precise) of seven daughters of a poor father. To help her family get some

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badly needed money (and to avoid having to marry anyone unpleasant), Buran dresses up as a boy and sets off to make her fortune. Enter: one prince, and oh man, it's just so much fun. There's a truly fantastic scene where a disguised Buran and Prince Mahmud go for a walk at dusk, and then—as boys do—decide to play a little chase-y chase-y. When Mahmud catches Buran, he pins her against a wall and they have a total *moment*—at which point Mahmud of course has a minor gay freak out. I loved that scene when I was younger; I should not have been at all surprised when I grew up to be a slasher.

I only have two complaints, really, which are that Mahmud makes the leap from "I like my male best friend!" to "OMG, he must be a chick!" a bit too fast and too easily, and that their final reunion scene doesn't quite have the impact I would like. But those are both minor. So...besides this and "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle," does anybody know of any other good crossdressing/genderfuck-y YA novels?

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The fourth of seven daughters, Buran grew into young womanhood keenly conscious of the fact that her gentle father, known throughout Baghdad as Abu al-Banat, or "the father of daughters," was considered unlucky to have had so many female children, but no son. Taught to read and write, and to play

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chess - unusual pursuits for a girl in the medieval Arab world - she had a sharp mind, and when her father grew ill, she convinced him to send her out into the world to make her fortune, just like her wealthy, male cousins. Eventually making her way to the coastal city of Tyre, Buran - now disguised as a young man named Nasir - succeeds in her goal, becoming a wealthy merchant, and the friend of Mahmud, the son of the Wali of Tyre. But is friendship enough for "Nasir" and Mahmud? And how will Buran fare when she meets her arrogant cousins again - the seven sons of her father's brother, who showed such contempt for her and her sisters, when they were still poor...?

Apparently based upon a well-known Iraqi folktale, first recorded in the eleventh century, Seven Daughters and Seven Sons is a story I have enjoyed reading many times, since first picking it up more than a decade ago. Although I did not first encounter it in youth, I suspect that if I had, I would have considered it a favorite. Told from alternating perspectives - first Buran's, then Mahmud's, then Buran's again - the story is immediately and lastingly engrossing, and although there are few surprises, it is ultimately quite satisfying to watch Buran succeed at her goal, and get her heart's desire as well. American author Barbara Cohen has produced many children's books, but her co-author, expatriate Iraqi Bahija Lovejoy, only ever produced this book, and a few others, which look to be non-fiction. I rather wish that this team had produced more - perhaps another tale based on Iraqi lore? However that may be, I'm grateful they did write Seven Daughters and Seven Sons, which I reread from time to time, when in need of a comfort read. Recommended to anyone looking for fiction based on folklore, or to those seeking children's fiction set in the Middle East and/or featuring strong girl characters.

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This is the second romance novel I've read in as many weeks! What's happening to me?? Actually this book, from my daughter's schoolbooks, is an expanded version of an old Iraqi folktale. Buran is a daughter of Malik, a poor shopkeeper who has the burden of seven daughters and no sons. His brother,

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in contrast, is quite wealthy and has seven sons. The rich brother is a real jerk and likes to rub Malik's nose in his "affliction". (As opposed to, say, giving his ol' bro some cash or something.) What neither man takes into account, however, is Buran's cleverness. Since she lives in the male dominated Arabic culture, she disguises herself as a man and travels to a distant city to try and make her fortune and provide money for her parents and sisters. I don't think I'm spoiling the story too much to tell you she has some success at it. What makes me want to steal this book from my daughter is the way Ms. Cohen and Ms. Lovejoy flesh out the folktale and make the characters three dimensional. Well, maybe two and a half. Either way, it's good.
--J.

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This is a re-telling of an Iraqi folktale that has a young girl, one of seven daughters, disguising herself as a man and making a living to support her family. Well told and non-traditional.

Interesting, but expected, tale of Buran, one of seven daughters of a struggling Baghdad merchant family, who disguises herself as a young man in order to aid her family. The story is told from the perspective of both Buran and her love interest. Buran's ckeverness in both trade, family and love

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makes the story.

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This is the story of Buran, a young girl who longs to make a future for herself. In her time, women stay at home and mind their own business. Buran's family is poor and finally gives in to her pleas to let her go out and make a living disguised as a man. She goes to the city of Tyre and starts

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trading in medicinal herbs. Her business is successful and she becomes friends with Prince Mahmud. Prince Mahmud eventually suspects that she is a girl and makes a series of tests to prove it. Buran flees, with the prince madly in love with her. It takes him 9 months to find her and they eventually get married and become the rulers of the kingdom.
I loved this book. It was amazing. It showed what a determined girl can do in the face of opposition. The book also showed how dedicated Buran was to her family and how she wasn't afraid to do something about it. One thing I didn't like was the way Prince Mahmud was presented. Overall though, it was really good. I would recommend to about anyone. It is seriously one of the best books I have ever read. I look forward to reading more like it

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I had never heard this story before so I can't say how well it was done compared to the original folktale, but I enjoyed this. It felt like something I would have read when I was younger, like Aesop's Fables or such, but I enjoyed the Arab setting which is a change of pace for me.

Based on an 11th Century Iraqi oral folk tale, this is a story of a young woman from a family of six other sisters, a family who is shunned on account of not having any sons. This young woman disguises herself and ventures out into a man's world to seek her fortune as a trader, and to bring honor

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to her father. This is akin to Queen Scheherazade's 'ploy' in '1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights', in that a woman's intuitiveness and intelligence should never be underestimated. I have a particular fondness for fairy tales and folklore, and so enjoyed this simple story very much.

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I liked it. 13yo son did not. He thought it was too much like Mulan which we already read this year.

Yeah I still love this book as much now as I did 18 years ago when I first read it.

Sought this out for #disguisedasaboy queer/trans subtext, and it delivers.

To tell the truth, after twelve weeks among men only, after twelve weeks without ever looking at my own self, I'd almost forgotten I was a woman. That doesn't mean I thought of myself as a man. I was only me, Nasir.

The author

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definitely didn't understand the subtext she was putting down, the speed it was squashed. I would bet it's actually anachronistic that none of these rich boys has ever heard of homosexuality, although I don't have citations for this.

I found the beginning slow but it sped up considerably. Instead of discovering magic powers, the characters are learning about the obscure and mystical powers of capitalism. Not interesting to me at all, personally, but I thought it was well done - it's clear what Buran/Nasir likes about it.

It's interesting how learning Arabic has changed how I see some stylistic translation choices! "O my father" sounds super formal in English, at least in part because it's so polysyllablic, but when it's a literal translation of "ya abbi" and you know that ya is an indispensable part of speech, you can see how it could actually be just a normal and familiar way to talk.

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