Mariam Sharma Hits the Road
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3.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Three Pakistani-American teenagers, on a trip through the land of pork ribs, mechanical bulls, and Confederate flags. It’s going to be quite an adventure.
The summer after her freshman year of college, Mariam is looking forward to working and hanging out with her best friends: irrepressible and beautiful Ghazala and religious but closeted Umar.
But when a scandalous photo of Ghaz appears on a billboard in Times Square, Mariam and Umar come up with a plan to rescue her from her furious parents. And what could be a better escape than a spontaneous road trip down to New Orleans?
With the heartbreaking honesty of Julie Murphy’s Dumplin’ mixed with the cultural growing pains and smart snark of When Dimple Met Rishi, this wry, remarkable road-trip story is about questioning where you come from—and choosing the family that chooses you back.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mariam, Ghazala, and Umar drive from New Jersey to New Orleans, looking for escape, fun, and togetherness. They find those things, as well as road trip staples, such as junk food and soul-searching, and because they're Pakistani-American prejudice and Islamophobia. Karim (That Thing We Call a Heart) effectively gets at the double difficulty of the characters being seen as outsiders even as their families consider them too assimilated. Beautiful Ghaz's family disowns her because she appeared in an ad they consider indecent; Umar, who's gay and a practicing Muslim, can't imagine a life that allows him to be both. Mariam has a good relationship with her mother, though she wonders whether her commitment issues come from the father she barely knew. But since Mariam and Ghaz are back from their first year at college and Umar is about to start, they at least have each other. With warmth and intimacy, Karim explores the bond among the three protagonists, as well as their individual identity conflicts. The story is focused on the immediate circumstances and concerns; as a result, the characters' psychological development is modest, yet meaningful. Ages 13 up.
