A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature!
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.
"This is a gorgeous book. It’s tender and fierce, beautiful even as it
depicts some ugly truths. Tahereh’s prose is passionate and honest,
unsentimental and big-hearted. The very best books move you to
reconsider the world around you, and this is one of those. I truly loved
it." -Nicola Yoon
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