English / USA
All my rage
Tahir, Sabaa
(text)
New York: Razorbill / Penguin Random House, 2022. – 374 p.
ISBN 978-0-593-20234-0
Addiction | Trauma | Abuse | Anger | Immigrant | Forgiveness | Islamophobia
Reading age: 14+
White Ravens issue: 2023
This heart-breaking young adult novel about two Pakistani-American teens is told from alternating points of view. Devastated Salahudin is doing everything possible to save his family’s motel after his loving mother Misbah’s unexpected death, while his grieving father is a dysfunctional alcoholic. Sal’s classmate Noor, who arrived in the USA at age six following an earthquake that killed her whole family, is almost suffocated by the manipulative and violent upbringing of her uncle and guardian. Sal and Noor had always been best friends until a huge fight some months previously caused a deep rift. At a critical time when they need each other most to face prejudice, grief, physical abuse, trauma, and the resulting rage, their relationship needs to be renegotiated carefully. Renowned author Sabaa Tahir offers a nuanced and profound family saga that tackles many interrelated topics. It is a tale about home, tradition, secrets, truth, and choices that urges readers to think about life’s big issues. [JY]