VOA慢速英語：《阿米娜的聲音》一書旨在幫助年輕美國人了解伊斯蘭教

Book Aims to Help Young Americans Understand Islam

《阿米娜的聲音》一書旨在幫助年輕美國人了解伊斯蘭教

Middle school is a difficult time for many young people.

對很多年輕人來說，中學是一個困難時期。

For Amina, an attack on the Islamic Center her family attends adds to the problems she already has. And a visiting uncle from Pakistan says Amina should read the Quran more often and stop playing the piano.

對阿米娜來說，她家人參與的一次對伊斯蘭中心的襲擊更加劇了她已經存在的問題。一位來訪的巴基斯坦叔叔表示，阿米娜應該更多地閱讀古蘭經并且停止彈鋼琴。

Anima is the main character in the fictional story, "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan. Khan was at a Washington, D.C area bookstore recently talking with children, parents, and teachers about the book.

阿米娜是Hena Khan撰寫的《阿米娜的聲音》這個虛構故事的主角。Khan最近在華盛頓特區(qū)一家書店與孩子們、家長們以及教師們討論了這本書。

Khan hopes Amina's story will help young readers understand what it is like for a young Muslim girl to live in the United States. Khan talked with VOA about her book.

Khan希望《阿米娜的聲音》能夠幫助年輕讀者了解一位生活在美國的年輕穆斯林女孩。Khan同美國之音談到了她的這本書。

"So I think it's really important through storytelling and through a character that they can relate to and identify and see themselves in, and realize that, 'Ok, this little girl Amina and her family isn't as different from mine as I thought...and her community and her friends and her family look very similar to mine.' And hopefully that helps develop more understanding and more tolerance of Muslims."

“我認為非常重要的是，要通過講述一個故事，通過一個他們能夠理解并且找到自己影子的角色，讓他們認識到，‘阿米娜這個小女孩和她的家人并不像我想象的那樣不同，她的社區(qū)、她的親朋好友看起來跟我非常相似。’我也希望這有助于增進人們對穆斯林的了解和寬容。”

Khan says that the media usually show negative actions of Muslims, so people fear their Muslim neighbors.

Khan表示，媒體通常會展示穆斯林的負面行為，所以人們害怕他們的穆斯林鄰居。

The writer grew up near Washington, D.C. and had problems with finding a balance between being both Pakistani and American at the same time. Khan remembers a friend who wanted to change her name to one that sounded "more American."

這位作家在華盛頓特區(qū)附近長大，她過去很難在同時作為巴基斯坦和美國人上找到平衡。Khan記得有位朋友想要改名，讓名字聽上去“更加美國化。”

Jeanette Collier is a teacher at a local Jewish school. She plans to add the book to her school's library.

Jeanette Collier是當地猶太學校的老師。她計劃把這本書加入到她所在學校的圖書館。

"Books are the second-best way for kids to learn about other people and to gain empathy and understanding of other people who are different than they are. Meeting those other people is the best way, making friends and having conversations, but I think our biggest challenge is getting the kids to read the books, because they go to what they know."

“書籍是孩子們了解他人并且獲得他人共鳴和理解的第二好的方，而遇到這些人，和他們交朋友、對話是最好的辦法。但我認為我們最大的挑戰(zhàn)是讓孩子們來閱讀這些書籍，因為他們只會去讀他們了解的書籍。”

One of the young readers at the bookstore, Mia Endelman, told VOA what she learned from the book.

這家書店中一位年輕讀者Mia Endelman告訴美國之音她從這本書中學到了什么。

"I kind of learned a little bit about Muslims, like, I didn't know what Muslim churches, or a mosque, I didn't know it was called that before."

“我對穆斯林有了一點了解，就像以前我不了解清真寺，不知道它就叫那么個名字。”

"Amina's Voice" is the first book published by a new publishing company, Salaam Reads. The name "Salaam" means "peace" in Arabic.

《阿米娜的聲音》是Salaam Reads這家新的出版公司出版的第一本書。Salaam的意思在阿拉伯語中的意思是和平。

Hena Khan says that finding a publisher was difficult. Now the book is part of a series. It will show young readers "a wide variety of Muslim children and families and offer Muslim kids an opportunity to see themselves" in positive stories.

Khan稱找到一家出版商非常困難。這本書是一系列書籍的一部分。它將向年輕讀者展示“各式各樣的穆斯林兒童和家庭，并向穆斯林孩子提供一個在積極的故事中看到自己影子的機會。”

Greater understanding between Americans of all religions is a goal for both the writer and publisher. "Amina's Voice" comes at a time of intense debate over issues such as immigration and concerns over extremist speech targeting religious and ethnic groups.

加深美國人對所有宗教的了解是該作者和出版社的目標。《阿米娜的聲音》的出版正值就移民以及擔憂針對宗教和族裔的極端言論進行激烈辯論的時候。

I'm Jill Robbins.

吉爾·羅賓斯報道。