The Chaos Family by Saleh M. Hafeezullah

A lively illustrated story about the first two days of a family vacation to Istanbul, The Chaos Family (The Road Begins Book 1) by Saleh M. Hafeezullah is a delightful comic romp about the positives and negatives of visiting a foreign country. The family deals with airport losses, dead car batteries, and hectic taxi rides, but also takes enjoyable visits to a restaurant, a mall, and the Hagia Sophia mosque. Written by an impressively ambitious 10-year-old writer, the prose is both engaging and informative, and the amusing commentary on the family’s triumphs and mishaps is often laugh-out-loud funny. Some allowance can be made for the level of illustrations, which do not quite match the passion behind the prose, but this is a fun, creative book that could be an inspiration to other young writers.