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Teach using Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq – winner of Pop Culture Classroom’s Excellence in Graphic Literature Mosaic Award in 2022!

Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab explores the perspective of Nisrin, a young girl discovering her Bangladeshi identity after becoming the victim of a hate crime fueled by post-9/11 xenophobia.

Pop Culture Classroom’s teaching guide for Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab — aligned to Common Core standards for grades 7-10 — explores the book’s themes, characters, and settings.

Using the projects and discussion questions in this guide, students will:

• Examine how characters with complex feelings and motivations affect the book’s themes, such as mental heath and trauma, connection and loneliness, diaspora, Islam, racism and xenophobia, and gender roles and relations.
• Study personal identity and culture’s impact on it
• Learn more about Bangladesh, where the protagonist’s family is from
• Learn more about attitudes and culture in the United States post 9/11

The story follows Nisrin throughout the months following a racism-fueled attacked as she deals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), navigates changing relationships at home and with friends, and tries to piece together her identity. In a defining moment of her journey, Nisrin decides to wear a hijab for reasons that are unclear to her family – and are muddy even to herself. This decision begins to shape Nisrin’s relationship to herself and the world around her in ways she could never expect. While navigating her new place in the world, the puzzle of her identity begins to fall into place—piece by piece.

Priya Huq’s beautifully illustrated and highly nuanced graphic novel will challenge students to see the world through a likely unfamiliar lens. No matter their backgrounds, however, all students will relate with Nisrin’s struggle to name and express her emotions and navigate personal relationships with family and friends. Huq’s artwork emanates energy and emotion, and it gives life to Nisrin’s inner feelings that she struggles to express with words. Through Huq’s layered storytelling, students will be guided through an emotional and eye-opening journey.