A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Description from the Publisher
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.
It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.
Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s 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. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.
My Review
Page Count: 320 pgs/6 hrs., 43 min.
Genre: YA Contemporary
First of all, I LOVE OCEAN!
This is an own voices novel that follows Shirin, a teenage Muslim American, who is dealing with the aftermath of 9/11. I was really excited to read this because so much of Tahereh Mafi's life is depicted in this novel: break dancing, interracial relationships, xenophobia, racism, bullying, etc. It was definitely eye-opening and thought-provoking.
I knew that the aftermath of 9/11 was hard for Muslim Americans, but it really broke my heart to read about it in this book. Tahereh Mafi's writing is raw, funny, heart-breaking, and consuming.
This book is so, so necessary, and it is one of my favorite releases of 2018. GO CHECK IT OUT NOW!
0 comments:
Post a Comment