response to Adam & Ruby (Laura)

After reading Annam’s story entitled Adam and Ruby, I was blown away by how beautifully it was written.

I especially enjoyed the fact she incorporated her Pakistani culture into the story. Words such as salwar kameez and jalebi give you an aspect of her culture and a taste of the traditions. It’s a strong theme to write about but she did it wonderfully.

Annam also does a good job at capturing the reader’s attention, especially if you’re a teenager, by creating characters that stir emotions and are easily relatable. She talks about the feelings most of us feel at that age, where we all just want to escape to someplace where no one knows our name and the pressures of school and families are far behind us. The main character Adam is presented to you and you’re not confused at what type of person he is. You see he’s just this young sarcasm spitting teenage boy who wishes to escape the cultural and religious expectations of his family at times. He’s in some ways an outsider in his own family, not really conforming to the wishes of his parents. Instead of studying to be a doctor or a lawyer, he chooses to play music and rock alone with his guitar in the confines of his room. During a party held by his parents he meets a strange girl called Ruby that entices him with her quirkiness and lets the walls he built up crumble to the ground. Together they talk and open up to each other about music and their families, creating their “own private world” in such a short amount of time. With a tune that had been stuck in his head for awhile, Ruby became his muse. Extracting the words from inside him and giving his song an identity for the first time.

I loved the humorous tone Annam puts into the story, especially the part where Adam prays to Allah. Praying is something he hasn’t done in a very long time, but results to doing it before entering his house, hoping it will help deflect any worries and stress being unleashed on him. Who hasn’t felt that way at one point or another? The dialogue Adam shares with his younger brother Ali also made me chuckle because it reminds anyone with a sibling how exchanges usually end when you’re talking with them, an insult.

The first time Ruby is introduced, you can picture her unusual appearance in your head because she is illustrated so well to the reader. “Her lips were stained an intense red shade and her eyes were painted black, with the tips of her eyeliner bridging out like a blackbirds wings…her clothes, completely disheveled and strangely endearing…Her bleached red hair was in a disarray just like the rest of her bangs that covered her eyes and self made braids which from afar resembled dreadlocks.” She’s clearly the wild child of her family, challenging the rules and sticking to the person she is. She is very similar to Adam in that way, giving you the feeling that she and Adam are meant to be. Even after just meeting Ruby, he can see right through her. “…despite her wild outer appearance, she was fragile. Everything else and an illusion of freedom” In the end when she hears her father going and they say their final goodbyes to each other, your left wondering whether or not these two will ever see each other again. Your reassured though towards the end as Adam starts writing more songs, in hopes of singing them to her one day.