Nura and the Immortal Palace

Product Information

Review: It was amazing to read a book featuring Pakistani characters. I’ve said this before, and I will say it again, I am soo grateful to be living in an era where diversity is finally being given the importance it deserves. Growing up, we did not have the luxury to read about characters who we could relate to in terms of tradition and culture. So, I am lapping it all in now 🤣 The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have... Nura and the Immortal Palace is about Nura who is after a fabled treasure buried in the mine to help support her family experiencing financial troubles. Her plan ends up going haywire when the mine collapses on four kids and her best friend, Faisal, turns out to be dead. Nura doesn’t believe this and shovels through the dirt to find him. While digging, she ends up in the world of the Jinn and is invited to their luxury hotel. But this world hides more than meets the eye and hides much darker forces at stake.

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M.T. Khan | Goodreads

I loved that child labor and exploitation was explained in an accessible way! Of course it was a heavy subject matter and such matters should be published for every age group. That being said I truly believe middle grade authors have some sort of secret power in how they write their novels. They truly can write anything and it just turns out to make perfect sense and is done so well.

Publisher

Something else that doesn’t really factor into the plot of the book but impacted me quite a bit is how much Nura’s sense of duty to her family is compounded by her father’s death. Eldest sisters already face tremendous pressure in Asian households. More so when it’s a single parent household. It’s also something I have personal experience with, so you can imagine that I could really relate to Nura in this regard on a deeply personal level. A stark reveal of reality Nura is fiercely protective of her loved ones and would do anything to get her hands on some gulab jamun and I absolutely loved her. Khan has done a brilliant job in capturing both her boldness and the naivety she has about the world and I really valued the subtler message on the importance of education that is brought into the narrative as we follow her on her journey in this story too. The most gloriously, richly illustrated cover of this book opens and takes the reader into a darkly intriguing and imaginative fantasy adventure that blends perfectly with a very real, central theme of child labour and the culture of exploitation of the poor by the wealthy. Author Luke Palmer introduces his new book, Play (Firefly Press) about four boys growing up together, the challenges, the friendships, and what hap...

NURA AND THE IMMORTAL PALACE | Kirkus Reviews

Pairing Islamic mythology with endearing characters and beautifully vivid settings, M. T. Khan’s middle grade debut is equally delightful and enlightening. Despite being for a younger audience I found myself absolutely captivated by this adventure that not only transports you to a world rich in South Asian culture but also imparts significant commentary on child labour and the cycle of exploitation that many families face in the real world. Nura is such a delightful voice to read through the book! I was impressed with how determined she was to earn for her family even if it meant grappling with the mica mining. And later on, I appreciated how she absorbed the lessons from different encounters, she always has her family as her priority. She’s a protective elder sister and daughter but also a caring friend. Our young heroine Nura works hard in the mica mines to earn a little money, for a great deal of effort, to help support her family in this enthralling new fantasy series. Nura has heard tales all her life about the amazing Demon’s Tongue – a piece of mica that would make her so rich her family would never need to work again. She digs and digs, deeper and deeper, until her efforts contribute to a mine collapse in which her friend Faisal is missing. But when a terrible accident buries her best friend below ground, Nura goes in search of him and passes over into the magical and terrible world of the jinn. Across a pink sea and under a purple sky, she finds her way to a palace, where great riches and a whole new life are on offer.

M. T. Khan Press Reviews

Nura wants what she can't have: money, wealth and power. Her days are long and difficult, mining for mica; it's a dirty and dangerous job but she does it to help her mum, to bring some extra money into the family, to help give her younger siblings a little extra. But what she really wants is to find The Demon's Tongue. Some say it's a myth, but for Nura and the other child miners, it's the ultimate goal: if they find it, they will want for nothing for the rest of their lives. But Nura takes too many risks and when her digging causes a mine to collapse and her best friend to get trapped, Nura takes it upon herself to save him. Aru Shah and the End of Timemeets Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Awayin this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers into the little-known world of Jinn. The two things that I appreciated on a more personal level with this book though were the big sister figure that Nura embodied because as an eldest child myself I saw my younger self in her, and also the depiction of day to day life in a Muslim community. From the prep and excitement for Eid, to the jinn stories told by families and the mention of stories from the Quran and praying Ayat al-Kursi for protection, it just warmed my heart seeing such wholesome representation. Nura is exactly the kind of fiercely protective eldest sister main character that I adore soooo much But when a terrible accident traps her best friend Faisal underground, she determines to save him - and crosses over into the magical and treacherous realm of the jinn.

Nura and the Immortal Palace | M. T. Khan | 9780759557956 Nura and the Immortal Palace | M. T. Khan | 9780759557956

Nura and the Immortal Palace was said to have shades of the Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away. (Which, of course, meant that I scrambled to get an ARC as soon as I could.) And let me tell you, it absolutely delivered on this promise. We see what happens when the veneer of beauty and magic is peeled away, revealing the darkness within. This was a theme that was very much present in Spirited Away. Nura and the Immortal Palace, I’m happy to report, does it justice. Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)From the very beginning, we are introduced to Nura as, first and foremost, an older sister. Eldest sisters occupy a very significant position in most ethnic groups, particularly Asians.(You ever hear that joke about eldest daughter in an Asian family syndrome? Yeah. It’s not really a joke.) Nura really typifies this stereotype. Not only is she loving and protective of her siblings and mother, she also extends her nurturing demeanor to Faisal and later on, to the rest of the children trapped with her in the Sijj Palace. All in all, a fabulous magical adventure with ‘desi’ vibes and an important message as well. Definitely a yes. I’d love to read more books by this young Pakistani author. You’ve earned yourself a fan in India. 💕 Nura, along with other kids, works in mica mines so her family can survive. Education is not an option for these kids, they spent their day in a struggle to collect the most mica to earn more. Nura's father lost his life working in mines. Nura's mother wants her kids to get an education but it seems luxury when it is hard to meet their basic needs. Nura grew up listening to demon tongue's myth- a hidden treasure, somewhere in mines, that can change her days. The efforts to find this treasure led her to a new world. Nura is 12 years old and has worked all her life in the mica mines, hoping to someday find a legendary buried treasure: the Demon's Tongue. One of the best things about Nura and the Immortal Palace is how vividly the setting has been described. My South Asian heart absolutely adores the Islam religion and Pakistani culture influences in the book, be it about festivals, the mouth watering food, the dances, the faith or the sense of family among the characters. I love how unapologetically Muslim it is and how the culture blends with the magical elements.

Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan | Hachette Book Group Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan | Hachette Book Group

PDF / EPUB File Name: Nura_and_the_Immortal_Palace_-_MT_Khan.pdf, Nura_and_the_Immortal_Palace_-_MT_Khan.epub I loved the role Islam played! Whenever Nura would feel helpless she always thought about her religion. Ayat al-Kursi was actually written in the novel and it made my day when I read it.

By Author / Illustrator

Author MT Khan takes us on a magical journey through the contrasting worlds of a mica miner to the bountiful world of the jinn palace. Her main character clearly wants what she can't have and her journey to claim it is fraught with problems for her to overcome, until ultimately, she discovers that what she needs is not what she thought that she wanted. Though a middle grade fiction, the book doesn’t go all light and fluffy. There are several dark themes and important topics such as the value of education and the prevalence of child labour. The author’s note at the end casts further light on these topics and is a must-read. I'm glad I decided to make this one of my API Heritage Month 2022 reads. Can't wait for this to come out so I can get myself a finished copy! History repeats itself. Once again, we fall to chaos. But we’ll rise again. And again. And once more.” Nura longs to wear a beautiful red dupatta or to bite into a sweet gulab. But with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. But it’s not just the extra rupees Nura is after. Local rumor says there’s buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family’s life forever.