A National Book Award Longlist title!
From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice.
Itâs 2002, a year after 9/11. Itâs an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl whoâs tired of being stereotyped.
Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. Sheâs tired of the rude stares, the degrading commentsâeven the physical violenceâshe endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So sheâs built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.
But then she meets Ocean James. Heâs the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies herâthey seem to come from two irreconcilable worldsâand Shirin has had her guard up for so long that sheâs not sure sheâll ever be able to let it down.