This month's book review! Let's see how long I can keep up ;) The book description from the back: Journey with Ahmad and Layla Deen as they embark on one amazing adventure after another. In this special omnibus edition, all four Deen family stories are gathered in one place for hours of non-stop thrills. In the first story, Ahmad and Layla take a trip with their father to sunny Mexico to learn about the ancient Aztecs. After their father is kidnapped, they learn more about this ancient civilization than they could ever imagine. What hair-raising adventure awaits? Find out as they tackle the Curse of the Aztec Warrior!
In the second story, Layla tries to catch a thief and what she discovers about herself is a lot more than she ever thought possible. This story has become an instant Ramadan classic.
In the third story, Ahmad goes on a class trip to China, but instead of getting a history lesson, he may become a victim of history, along with his annoying roommate. Can he survive an encounter with the Jinn at Shaolin?
In the final story, Layla is a young teenager trying to survive her last year of junior high school. Just when she thinks her feelings of isolation are starting to get manageable, the student council decides to have a popularity contest - and her name is mysteriously entered! Find out what happens!
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From the 4 stories in this collection, my most favorite to least were: 1. Case of the Ramadan Rogue2. Popularity Contest3. Jinn at Shaolin4. Curse of the Aztec WarriorI realized I liked the realistic stories better than the fictional ones. The two Layla Deen stories happened to be realistic, and thus relatable. Both boys and girls I think could still read and enjoy the other stories, i.e. girls can read Ahmad Deen and boys can read Layla Deen. After reading some of the author's fictional work, I am interested to read Isabella, a Girl of Muslim Spain. I liked the idea of 4 books in 1, especially since the first 3 in the omnibus were short. However, if one is looking to read/buy just Layla OR Ahmad's adventures, I think getting the separate books for each is better. I recommend the Aztec Warrior, Jinn at Shaolin, and Ramadan Rogue for elementary age children. The Popularity Contest is better suited for middle school girls in my opinion. What I didn't like about this omnibus was that the Islamic topics/ Arabic words didn't flow naturally. If these are going to be used in a book, I prefer for them flow with the rest of the story. If not, it feels like they were just thrown in or can be taken to be preachy. The second (minor) issue I had was that the pictures in this book look like clipart images. A book with no illustrations is better then clipart images in my opinion... I gave this collection 4/5 stars. If you want to purchase this book, order a brand new copy from Books by the Dozen to support by business :)
