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The Girl Who Fell to Earth
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
15 posts | 11 read | 28 to read
Award-winning filmmaker and writer Sophia Al-Marias The Girl Who Fell to Earth is a funny and wry coming-of-age memoir about growing up in between American and Gulf Arab cultures. With poignancy and humor, Al-Maria shares the struggles of being raised by an American mother and Bedouin father while shuttling between homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Middle East. Part family saga and part personal quest, The Girl Who Fell to Earth traces Al-Marias journey to make a place for herself in two different worlds.
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Hooked_on_books
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

Sophia Al-Maria writes here about being born to an American mother and Bedouin father and moving back and forth between the US and #Qatar, never quite finding her place. I found this to be an interesting depiction of culture and place, for which I give it a pick, but I wanted more from it. I wanted her to dig a bit deeper and instead this read a bit like YA.

#ReadingAsia2021

BarbaraBB I‘m in need of a book for Qatar but not sure if this is the right one for me. 4y
Librarybelle Great review! 4y
Hooked_on_books @BarbaraBB I know nothing about it, but she does have another book that may work better if you can track it down. 4y
BarbaraBB Thanks! I‘ll check it out! 4y
50 likes4 comments
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Simona
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Mehso-so

Sophia/Safya, the child of an American mother and a Bedouin father, is torn between two cultures, and this book are her memories of growing up and accepting her own identity. I found interesting descriptions of the nature and Bedouin life/habits, but I didn‘t like her narrative voice. 👍content, 👎 everything else

Simona @Riveted_Reader_Melissa #Nonfiction2021 - something about community 4y
Librarybelle You are doing so well with this challenge! 4y
Simona @Librarybelle Thank you 😊 I really enjoy reading about different cultures and I see those challenges as a opportunity to broaden my horizons. 4y
46 likes1 stack add4 comments
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TorieStorieS
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

Oops- my first official read of 2021 is actually a carryover from my December 2020 #ReadAroundTheWorld challenge for #Qatar- but I did find this memoir quite fascinating. I wish that there had been a little more detail as far as food goes - and the author‘s relationship with her sister in particular seemed oddly absent. But it does a good job showing the independent nature required to straddle such different cultures!

readordierachel That's a cool globe ornament 🌍 4y
TorieStorieS @readordierachel Thanks!! I usually hang it on the tree near other ornaments picked up while traveling! 4y
50 likes2 comments
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Currey
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

#readaroundtheworld #Qatar A memoir from a woman uniquely half American and half Bedouin at a time when those two worlds had absolutely no knowledge of each other. Her coming of age story is told in a simple and straightforward fashion; while giving the reader insights into the vast changes the Bedouin culture faced as they transitioned from nomadic herding and trading to working on oil rigs and watching American TV shows.

BarbaraBB Thanks for tagging me. This seems a great choice for #Qatar in #ReadingAsia2021! 4y
BookwormM Sounds good I haven‘t started mine yet eeek 4y
rockpools That sounds fascinating! 4y
23 likes1 stack add3 comments
blurb
Tove_Reads
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Sophia's mother is sending her away from Washington State to Qatar, to stay with her father's Bedouin family, when Sophia was a teenager. This is a coming-of-age story, as well as a story about living between two very different families, struggling between two cultures, literally and figuratively miles apart. What I did not like about this book is that so many of my questions were not answered. #Qatar #readingtheworld

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Jari-chan
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

I love learning about new places and foreign cultures. Books really help discovering different cultures and how other people live. Therefore I found this book very interesting and was touched by Al-Marias struggle to find a place to call home. It sure wasn't easy for her to find out who she is.

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BekaReid
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

I found this interesting and was able to catch glimpses into Sophia Al-Maria's life and struggle to find her identity as she straddled such different worlds growing up with an American mother and Bedouin father and living from Washington state to Qatar to Cairo.

9 likes1 stack add
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ephemeralwaltz
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Mehso-so

I don't mean to invalidate the author's experience in any way here. I was really interested in her story but the execution just didn't do it for me. I was expecting more of an analysis of the cultural differences between America and Qatar, as the memoir focuses on the author's coming of age in both countries. The writing was also a bit overwrought for the subject matter for my taste, and I think that's why it took me a bit to finish this one.

Cinfhen I liked this one a bit more than you did. Although I found the ending rushed and less authentic than the earlier years of her story. I was just amazed by her parents lifestyle choices and lack of responsibility to their children. 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Cinfhen Yes I had issues with the ending too but I didn't mind having it end there, although it felt like all of the conflicts that the book poses hadn't been resolved at all.. 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Cinfhen her parents were a wonder to me as well!! 6y
61 likes1 stack add4 comments
blurb
ephemeralwaltz
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Living my best life 😋

Kalalalatja Yes you do! ☀️👌 6y
GatheringBooks gorgeous photo! 😍 6y
95 likes1 stack add2 comments
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LibrarianChels
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Mehso-so

I grabbed this book for my #litsypassport July read, which featured Qatar. I had hoped for more cultural elements, but the book was too inside the author‘s head to get a solid feel for life there.

blurb
ephemeralwaltz
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Jumping in! Thanks @Cinfhen 😘

I had never read many memoirs and this year I've discovered that it my be a new favorite genre of mine!

Trashcanman Reminded me of Walter Tevis work. Is she an alien too? 6y
Smrloomis This looks good! Thanks for posting this. Never heard of it. 6y
zezeki Love that cover! 😍 6y
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ephemeralwaltz @Trashcanman True! I haven't read that one. 6y
ephemeralwaltz @zeljka I know 😍😍 6y
Cinfhen I love memoirs too and this one didn‘t disappoint!!! 6y
62 likes1 stack add7 comments
blurb
ephemeralwaltz
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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#readingwomenmonth #memoir #TBR "When Sophia Al-Maria's mother sends her away from rainy Washington State to stay with her husband's desert-dwelling Bedouin family in Qatar, she intends it to be a sort of teenage cultural boot camp. In Qatar, Sophia is faced with a new world she'd only imagined as a child. She sets out to find her freedom, even in the most unlikely of places..."

@Cinfhen @Weaponxgirl @Andrew65

Cinfhen Hope you like this book!! I found it really fascinating 🌎 6y
Weaponxgirl This sounds really good, stacked! 6y
Trashcanman I like the Walter Tevis tie in. 6y
66 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
Cinfhen
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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Pickpick

Finished my first book for #PassportLitsy #Qatar I'm a fan of memoirs, especially when the subject matter is something I know very little about. Sophia Al -Maria was born to a Bedouin father and an American mother. Unconventional childhood doesn't begin to describe Sophia's experiences, which she shares in an honest, vivid, witty tone. It's part family drama, coming of age story set in the deserts of the Arabian Gulf and farmlands of Seattle.

TrishB And that bookmark matches wonderfully 💕 7y
Cinfhen So glad you noticed @TrishB 😃it was a gift from @scripturient and of course painted by the lovely @BookBabe 🖤💚🖤 7y
Tamra That sounds wonderful! 7y
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TrishB These things are important ❤️ 7y
batsy Great cover! 7y
Cinfhen It is a great cover and really interesting read @batsy @Tamra sometimes those challenges force you to read something you never would have tried... 7y
GlassAsDiamonds Oohh ... that sounds fascinating (I say, adding it to a stack so ridiculously out of control it‘s going to hive off into other TBR stacks that will ultimately give up on being read and run away to the wild hills!). (edited) 7y
Reviewsbylola Sounds very interesting! 7y
125 likes12 stack adds8 comments
blurb
Cinfhen
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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#ReadingResolutions 😉 I‘m participating in #Booked2018 and #PassportLitsy which are both #LitsyChallenges as well as #pop18 and #ModernMsDarcy Here is my travel itinerary and the books I hope to read....First up, the tagged memoir which will also fulfill #POCauthor for #Booked2018 #AttackTheStack

LeahBergen This looks fun 👍🏻 7y
Cinfhen I wish I could remember which Litten is running the challenge?!? @LeahBergen I guess I need to look through my emails 7y
Bookzombie @Cinfhen I think it was @maximoffs (formerly steverogers). 7y
See All 13 Comments
erzascarletbookgasm Looks like you‘re set for an interesting journey! Love your graphics 7y
batsy What's the #modernmsdarcy @Cinfhen, that sounds fun but I can't seem to find any info 😊 7y
Cinfhen Thanks @Bookzombie my email had no Litsy handle....I‘m ready to travel the world @erzascarletbookgasm are you both participating as well?!?! 7y
tricours Interesting countries! 7y
Pamwurtzler @batsy take a look at modernmrsdarcy.com. Her challenge is on her website. 7y
Bookzombie No, I‘m not doing this one, even though it looks fun. 🙂 7y
emilyhaldi This one is on my #tbrbingo that I have seriously been slacking on... hope I can get to it soon 🤞🏻 7y
Cinfhen My #TBRbingo is in sad sad shape 😔☹️ @emilyhaldi (edited) 7y
Cinfhen Yes @tricours not quite tourist hotspots😃❣️❣️ 7y
batsy Thank you, @Pamwurtzler ! 7y
155 likes1 stack add13 comments
blurb
Cinfhen
The Girl Who Fell to Earth | Sophia Al-Maria
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I broke my book buying ban BUT I did complete two bingos on my #TBRbingo board and all 4 titles are for #PassportLitsy 🌍although one book is 518 pages😱I somehow missed that important bit of info #BigBookMonitor So now I'm patiently #waiting to see if I chose well....I ❤️Litsy and all of the creative reading challenges that make me broaden my reading world! #uncannyOctober

TrishB Girl at War was a good read. Not read any of the others. 7y
minkyb I also really liked Girl at War. 7y
Reviewsbylola Lol if you're buying for a challenge it's totally acceptable. 😆 7y
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Cinfhen Exactly, assigned reading shouldn't count!!!! @Reviewsbylola 7y
DivaDiane I have the same ban and did the same thing for the #passportlitsy challenge! Totally legit, right? RIGHT?!? 7y
Cinfhen Obviously @DivineDiana it's part of our reading curriculum...basically it's #RequiredReading 🤓 7y
DivineDiana @Cinfhen I was so happy to see a comment from you this morning, unfortunately only to discover it was really for @DivaDiane You‘re not the first to confuse our names! 😉😂❤️ 7y
Cinfhen Ha!!! Well I'm happy I made your day @DivineDiana 🤗😘please see above @DivaDiane 😉😁💕 7y
DivineDiana Love your Passport Litsy visual! 👍🏻❤️ 7y
DivaDiane @DivineDiana Sorry to have made our names so easily interchangeable! In my defense I've been using DivaDiane since the early 90's (and I'm a singer, not a goddess)! 7y
DivineDiana @DivaDiane No apology needed! Glad to connect! What type of music do you sing? 7y
DivaDiane Sorry to hijack your feed @Cinfhen ! @DivineDiane I sing classical music of the ancient/early variety: baroque/Renaissance/medieval. 7y
Cinfhen I'm enjoying all the banter @DivaDiane @DivineDiana #TongueTwister 7y
Cinfhen Very cool @DivaDiane 7y
DivaDiane 😊 7y
DivineDiana Yes! Sorry, @Cinfhen, and agree @DivaDiane very cool! 7y
104 likes1 stack add16 comments