Parents' Guide to
Grounded
Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Krawczyk
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Tweens find voices in engaging, heartfelt airport adventure.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In GROUNDED, four Muslim tweens meet when their flights are grounded in the same airport after MONA, the Muslims of North America conference. Twelve-year-old Feek is looking for his lost 4-year-old sister, Ruqi, when he meets Hanna and Sami, who help him with his search. When they eventually find Ruqi with Nora in the food court, Hanna recruits her new friends for another search. While looking for the cat Snickerdoodle, lost in the airport for a week, the tweens each reveal their own struggles with family, friends, and fears. As the story unfolds and their airport adventures expand, will the four tweens find Snickerdoodle? Will they find a way to use their voices and overcome their fears?
Is It Any Good?
This engaging story does an excellent job of mixing deeper topics with adventure and humor. In Grounded, the four tweens' characters are nicely developed in chapters told from their alternating viewpoints. The novel has great representation of Muslim families from different backgrounds who practice Islam in a variety of ways. Readers will relate to typical tween struggles such as navigating relationships with friends and family and handling difficult conversations and fears. Readers will also be inspired by the characters' empathy and teamwork. The search for the cat Snickerdoodle gets a bit silly at times but is an effective background for the heartwarming relationships that develop among the main characters as they find their voices. Grounded is a solid story with wide appeal. Highly recommended.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Islam in Grounded. The characters are all in the same city and airport because they attended MONA, the Muslims of North America conference. What did you know about Islam before you read the book? What did you learn?
Communication and being honest with each other and their families is important in helping the characters in the story understand and support each other. Have you ever had a difficult conversation with a parent or with a friend? What about? How did it go?
The characters demonstrate teamwork in their searches for Ruqi and later for Snickerdoodle. They also show empathy in offering suggestions to solve problems with their families. When's a time that you worked with others to solve a problem or overcome a challenge? How did it feel?
Book Details
- Authors: Aisha Saeed , Huda Al-Marashi , Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow , S.K. Ali
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models
- Character Strengths: Communication , Empathy , Teamwork
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Amulet Books
- Publication date: May 9, 2023
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 272
- Available on: Hardback, iBooks, Kindle, App
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: June 7, 2023
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
What to Read Next
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate