Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers by Lina Al-Hathloul and Uma Mishra-Newbery is a poetic story inspire by a real woman and the way she learned to fly, and how her country considered it illegal and punished her.
The real Loujain grew up with her siblings in Saudi Arabia and to drive a car (fly) as a woman was illegal, but she knew she wanted to “see the sunflowers” and therefore, learned. However, once having returned to the country, her father filmed her, and it became viral that a woman drove. She was arrested (the first of several times) and is currently a political prisoner with strict restrictions on her movements and what she is allowed to say. We see this in the afterwards.
Before that, we follow a fictional Loujain, a child who dreams of colors and seeing sunflowers like her father can see. But to get there, she must fly, but only men can fly. Despite misgivings at first, Loujain’s father teaches her how to fly. And when she is found out, yes, people stare and think her wrong, but it inspires other girls to ask their fathers to buy them wings so they can learn to fly as well. Yet, as mentioned above, Al-Hathloul’s real life was less hopeful. But it does sound as if she and her family speak out where they can and try to keep that inspiration alive.
Lovely illustrations by Rebecca Green that bring to life the colors and sights around Lojain, and a heartfelt afterwards from the authors, make this is a must have for the classroom or personal library.
