Saving Kabul Corner

Brief overview:

Ariana's family has owned the only Afghan grocery in the plaza for years. But one day a rival Afghan grocery store opens up and reignites an old feud from Afghanistan. When events start happening that hurt both stores, Ariana must uncover who's behind it before both stores go out of business.

Recommended age range: 8-12 years old

Strengths:

• A relatable cast of characters
• Touches on themes of rivalry, jealousy, family, and friendship
• Kids acting as detectives to uncover who is behind events hurting both stores
• Portrays Afghan culture in a natural way throughout the story
• Fun read overall
• Kids ultimately share key findings with a trusted adult who helps them 
• Love how Ariana is a fan of origami

Additional Notes:

• The kids do lie a couple of times to get information, but the main character does acknowledge feeling bad about it. Also, it can provide a touchpoint for Christian parents to discuss the topic of lying in the Bible.
• This is the second book in a series called The Kabul Chronicles. But the first book has a different main character (who you "see" in book 2, but isn't very much a part of this second story).
• While some rivalries felt a bit too easily resolved, I really enjoyed this book and intend to read the first one, Shooting Kabul (where the main character likes photography).