No True Believers
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- ¥1,000
発行者による作品情報
Fans of the riveting mystery in Courtney Summers's Sadie and the themes of race and religion in Samira Ahmed's Internment will be captivated by this exploration of the intersection of Islamaphobia and white supremacy as an American Muslim teen is forced to confront hatred and hidden danger when she is framed for a terrorist act she did not commit.
Salma Bakkioui has always loved living in her suburban cul-de-sac, with her best friend Mariam next door, and her boyfriend Amir nearby. Then things start to change. Friends start to distance themselves. Mariam's family moves when her father's patients no longer want a Muslim chiropractor. Even trusted teachers look the other way when hostile students threaten Salma at school.
After a terrorist bombing nearby, Islamaphobia tightens its grip around Salma and her family. Shockingly, she and Amir find themselves with few allies as they come under suspicion for the bombing. As Salma starts to investigate who is framing them, she uncovers a deadly secret conspiracy with suspicious ties to her new neighbors--but no one believes her. Salma must use her coding talent, wits, and faith to expose the truth and protect the only home she's ever known--before it's too late.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lumbard's debut, a thriller about an American Muslim teen living in Arlington, Va., lays bare the all-too-often conflicting ideas of patriotism and tolerance. High school senior Salma Bakkioui is a Muslim girl with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; her father is a redheaded caucasian North African Berber; and her mother is a blond former WASP, now Muslim convert, from Nashville. Salma is coming to terms with the loss of her best friend, who recently moved to Dubai, when her Washington, D.C., community is rocked by a terrorist bombing ascribed to Islamic extremists. After her school receives a bomb threat, Salma is questioned by the police and begins receiving bigoted messages on her locker. She isn't the type to hide, though, and she begins to investigate the bad luck that suddenly seems to befall Muslims in her community, uncovering revelations along the way. In addition to keeping readers guessing what will happen next, Lumbard asks questions about government overreach, cybersecurity, and what's at stake when the reputation of an entire group is threatened. Though characters lack nuance and the pacing is leisurely until the final act, Lumbard's novel succeeds in illuminating fundamental similarities across religions and portraying a harrowing situation that feels contemporary and plausible. Ages 14 up.
