There are lots of things I love about this book. The end was a bit rushed and maybe too tidy, but the characters get so real, and the injustices of the system the Hossain family was navigating were laid out beautifully for the YA reader who may not know how these things work. And the call to activism was powerful! Will definitely be recommending this one to students in my school library. ( )

I was not expecting this book to be so sad and yet, it was both sad and hopeful. I would love to say that stuff like this does not happen but I know that would be untrue. A great book for teens and adults to give you a glimpse of the processes that immigrants have to go through to live in America (although I am not sure the process is any easier in Canada). ( )

Pakistani Muslim Zara, an openly queer senior in Corpus Christi, Texas, handles not only being Muslim in post–9/11 America, but also being an immigrant.

Contrary to assumptions, Zara’s family is wholly accepting of her bisexuality. Instead, it’s her girlfriend Chloe’s Christian family that’s having a hard time coming to terms with their daughter’s sexuality. Zara knows how to navigate the racism of her Catholic school classmates, but when bully Tyler starts harassing Maria, a new student from Colombia, she can’t stay silent—and Tyler wants revenge. After the family awakens one night to find a racist message defacing their garage, Abbu, Zara’s father, immediately heads to Tyler’s house, certain he is the perpetrator. In a twisted set of events, Abbu is shot by Tyler’s father, winding up in a coma while facing criminal charges for trespassing. The incident does more than just rattle the family: It directly threatens Abbu’s employment, their immigration status, and the notion that the U.S. could ever be a safe home. Khan unapologetically tackles prejudice in its various manifestations—anti-immigration, homophobia, Islamophobia—while simultaneously engaging openly with the complexities of accountability. The myriad forms of oppression the most vulnerable face in our society intersect in the character of Zara, challenging readers to ask what it means for some to feel at home in a country whose systems feel built to exclude them.

A vivid account exploring issues many immigrant teens face. (Fiction. 13-18)

-Kirkus Review

DNF ( )

Zara has tried to stay calm and under the radar at her Texas high school. She's in her senior year and is thinking about where to attend college. Her parents are loving, open minded, accepting...and Pakistani immigrants, Dad a pediatrician, Mom with an equally skilled and desirable job. Thanks to the draconian green card system, they're still waiting eight years after the hospital where her father works sponsored their stay. They're edging closer, but the current administration has made the process ever more slower and hostile (Trump, not Biden).
When she confronts a racist bully who is in the process of terrorizing another female immigrant in the school parking lot, it is the beginning of a nightmare that must be read carefully to be believed. It involves terrorist graffiti, someone getting shot, more racist, Islamophobic, and homophobic propaganda, shouts and behind the scenes maneuvering. This will be a challenging read for those with an open mind and hope for our country...Don't expect anyone with less of a mindset to get past page ten, because what happens is not only familiar to hundreds of legal immigrants every day, it's part of the black ooze of corruption flowing across much of the country, and there are too blasted many who can't, or won't think about the reality of what happens to Zara and her family.
This is a book I hope lands in every school and public library because it's powerful, not that far fetched and should make students feeling complacent about the future rethink that mindset ASAP. ( )