Minnesota teen's book aims to give voice to Muslim women

Published: 2006-02-20

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) -- In February 2005, when most teen girls were hoping for roses or chocolates, 17-year-old Chiara Kovarik received her dream valentine: the acceptance of her book manuscript by a Minneapolis publishing company. The teen stands out from her peers in many ways, including the subject she chose to explore in her 174-page book, "Interviews With Muslim Women of Pakistan." "Most young adult books focus on teen body image or dating tips," Kovarik said. Her book offers a fresh perspective on a nation that became a partner in the war on terror. Kovarik, a senior at Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights, spent a month in Pakistan in the summer 2001. "I'd gone with the typical ideas that the women were oppressed and they're all covered up and they don't have the right to speak, and I was finding that a lot of those previous notions I had were not true, or at least were a bit skewed in the way they had been presented to me," she said.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .