Dawn to Dusk

TFK Kid Reporter Vivian Goldhirsh read Almost Sunset and interviewed its author, Wahab Algarmi. Read Vivian’s thoughts below.

Almost Sunset is a new graphic novel about a young boy named Hassan who is observing Ramadan. Every year, nearly 2 billion people celebrate Ramadan, a holy month for people who follow the Muslim faith. Ramadan is a month of fasting, which means observers don’t eat or drink from dawn until sunset. Hassan hasn’t told any of his peers about his fasting. He has to balance the different aspects of his life during Ramadan, such as playing sports, keeping up his grades, and spending time with friends and family.

Wahab Algarmi, the author of Almost Sunset, told TFK that he wanted his parents’ Yemeni roots to be part of the story. So he included a chapter in which Hassan travels to Yemen, a country in the Middle East. “I really wanted to put the Yemeni culture in a book, because this is for my community,” he said. He explained that Hassan is loosely based on his son and himself, and added that the writing came easily, because he used his daily routine to write Hassan’s routine.

Algarmi was excited to share Ramadan’s focus on reflection. “For a month, you really have to reset and reorganize your life around [Ramadan]: calm down and relax,” he told TFK. “I want to teach people that sometimes, you need that spiritual reset, whether you’re religious or not.”

Almost Sunset is a story of a young boy who is finding balance as he practices his family’s traditions. It has funny moments, and serious ones, too. I enjoyed learning about Ramadan and the characters’ love of the holiday.