Amina Banana and the Formula for Making Money by Shifa Saltagi Safadi and Aaliya Jaleel - ESSENTIAL

Amina Banana and the Formula for Making Money (Amina Banana #3) by Shifa Saltagi Safadi and Aaliya Jaleel, 128 pages. CHAPTER BOOK. G.P. Putnam's Sons (Penguin), 2026. $7 (pb)

 Content: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ESSENTIAL 

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL 

3rd grader Amina and her family immigrated from Syria. Amina is quickly learning that her new home is very different than Syria. For example, America uses inches and pounds, while Syria uses centimeters and kilograms. Her parents are struggling to save enough money so that her mom can take an English test; the last step preventing her from practicing as a doctor in America. Amina decides to help out her family using some creative ways to earn money. Will her ideas work? Will she be able to save $500 for her mom to take the test? 

 I liked this plot because it integrated critical thinking skills as well as real world math situations. It helped show different cultural perspectives. Amina and her family face ignorance and bigotry from people working at a grocery store. It shows how her family deals with this and stands up to bullies. Amina and her family have immigrated to America from Syria.

 Reviewer: A. Criswell, English Language Arts teacher