Girl Who Fell to Earth (Al Maria) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
This is a tale of strangers in strange lands: of Sophia's father…of Sophia's mother…and of Sophia herself, who navigates the chasms between cultures and places, tribal allegiances and interior spaces…[Al-Maria] offers us an original outlook on ancient ground—what any artist hopes to achieve.
Dalia Sofer - New York Times Book Review


[A] story as full of culture shock as it is of human candor…There's a scattered, unfinished quality to Al-Maria's story…And yet there is much to beguile you: a desperate search for identity, a frenzied motion between two worlds, the sheer love that impels that transit. For all the awkwardness of The Girl Who Fell to Earth, there is an undeniable urgency here. It's hard to look away from a heart cracked in two.
Marie Arana - Washington Post


In this funny, insightful memoir, artist, filmmaker, and writer Al-Maria chronicles being raised by an American mother from rural Washington State and a Bedouin father from Qatar. When Al-Maria’s father takes a second wife, Al-Maria and her mother return to America. But tensions mount when the author enters fifth grade and becomes quite curious about sex, culminating with Al-Maria being sent back to her father in the Arabian Gulf..... Her story is a satisfying trek through a complex cross-cultural landscape toward a creative and satisfying life.
Publishers Weekly


An Arab-American woman's riveting coming-of-age story.... [T]he author's account of living with her extended family [in Qatar] and noting class differences really shines. From an intimate vantage point, Al-Maria sees and translates challenges that the Bedouin, who lived for ages in the desert navigating by the stars, now face in the era of big cities and washers and dryers. What makes Al-Maria's story unique is not only its rare insider's glimpse of modern Bedouin life, but the outsider's sensibility that magnifies her exquisite observational gifts. Frank, funny and dauntless.
Kirkus Reviews