Crime: Drug Trafficking/Dealing,Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Drug Use/Abuse,Language: Racial or Ethnic Epithet/Slur,Language: Strong Language,Violence: Child Abuse,Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape Reference/Discussion
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir comes a brilliant, unforgettable, and heart-wrenching contemporary YA novel about family and forgiveness, love and loss, in a sweeping story that crosses generations and continents.
Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.
Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.
Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.
Topics Pakistani Americans. Family life. Immigrants. Forgiveness. Grief. Poverty. Debt. Motels. Islamophobia. Dating and sex. Prejudice and racism. Alcoholism. Point of view.
Lexile HL590L
Trim Size 8 3/10" x 5 1/2"
JLG Span Spring
Language English
Rights type Print
Publication date 2022-02-28
JLG Release Date May 2022
Minimum grade 9
Maximum grade 12
Reading level High
Format Print
Young Adult Plus (Grades 9 & Up)
Young Adult Plus
Young Adult Plus (Grades 9 & Up)
For Grades 9 & Up
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