The first point I need to make is that there were a few “technical” difficulties with the story for me. It reads as if it was book two/three in a series. While researching to see if it was a series, I noticed that it looks like just Farah Rocks will not be out until at least August 2020. However, there is enough information in Farah Rocks Fifth Grade to be a stand-alone title and a “prequel” is not needed.
Susan Muaddi Darraj created a book that is for ages 7-10. Farah’s story starts with us learning she is smart. Not just smart but super smart; as is her best friend. Both are slated to apply to a middle school that specializes in the areas the girls are interested in. But being smart does not mean you do not have to deal with the everyday events of riding the bus with a “mean” driver, bullies and your little brother. Farah’s name means “Rock” in Arabic, and she will not let these issues to cause her not to live up to her namesake.
Overall this is a cute story of how Farah takes it upon herself to not bother her parents with “one more thing” in their already stressed out lives. She likes taking care of (and spoiling) her little brother, despite his special needs (due to being premature). But she is not sure how to stop the new girl, Dana, from bulling Samir and his friends. Especially when the adults she talks to seem to “brush her off” or think Dana is “the sweetest girl” or “she is new, so you should be more understanding.” The realism of the adults/teachers not dealing with the subject of bullies is spot on. They say “no bullying tolerated” 
but they mean the “big stuff” not the “little stuff” that only Farah seems to see.
The biggest issue I had with the book is that Farah’s father emigrated to the states in his late 20’s. This causes his English to be less-than-perfect. Which is understandable and is explained by Farrah. However, Darraj, might have handled the showing of this differently. She shows that he has trouble with the letter’s “r” and “p” and therefore, substitutes the closest letters (as the Arabic language does not have those letters). When he speaks this is written out with a “b” and not “pr” for problem (and so forth) and literally caused me to stumble over those words. However, I am honestly not sure if this was a good or bad way of showing the character. Otherwise the culture and life of the characters is shown well.
Two smaller issues for me was that Farah does a lot of telling the story and not “showing” it. The other was (SPOILER) the bully does finally get 
into trouble but is so spoiled her parents (who have separated/divorce and Dana and her mom moved away from Texas) will get back together and move back to Texas. While the telling is a story choice the author made, this simplistic ending was rushed and flat. There were a few other “technical issues” as I said at the start for me, but each reader in the adult world will be either affected by them or not. However, I do not see the targeted age reader having issues. They will see a story of family, friends and love.
The biggest issue I had with the book is that Farah’s father emigrated to the states in his late 20’s. This causes his English to be less-than-perfect. Which is understandable and is explained by Farrah. However, Darraj, might have handled the showing of this differently. She shows that he has trouble with the letter’s “r” and “p” and therefore, substitutes the closest letters (as the Arabic language does not have those letters). When he speaks this is written out with a “b” and not “pr” for problem (and so forth) and literally caused me to stumble over those words. However, I am honestly not sure if this was a good or bad way of showing the character. Otherwise the culture and life of the characters is shown well.
Two smaller issues for me was that Farah does a lot of telling the story and not “showing” it. The other was (SPOILER) the bully does finally get into trouble but is so spoiled her parents (who have separated/divorce and Dana and her mom moved away from Texas) will get back together and move back to Texas. While the telling is a story choice the author made, this simplistic ending was rushed and flat. There were a few other “technical issues” as I said at the start for me, but each reader in the adult world will be either affected by them or not. However, I do not see the targeted age reader having issues. They will see a story of family, friends and love.