Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqui, is about a boy named Yusuf Azeem and his troubles with being an immigrant Muslim in America. He is starting 6th grade in this close to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. With all the “never forget” banners around the school Yusuf starts to feel like he does not belong. Then on the first day of 6th grade he starts getting mean and racist notes in his locker. Yusuf is a boy who likes robotics and likes to code. He is very smart and brave. His best friend Daniel always said that he needed to ignore racist people, but it is not easy for Yusuf. This year he decided to participate in the annual Frey Robotics Competition. When he joins, he makes a new friend named Jared. Yusuf finds out that Ethan Grant and his father are trying to stop the building of the mosque that Yusuf’s family is helping build and when his new friend reveals a dark secret about himself, Yusuf must find a way to make sure that nothing happens to his family or the mosque.
This book was a good book. This book is written from Yusuf’s point of view. It had funny and sad chapters that dealt with things like harassment and racism. I recommend this book to people from ages 10-14 because it teaches people about racism. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn about topics like racism.