Zara Hossain Is Here
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them.
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician. While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low, trying not to stir up any trouble and jeopardize their family's dependent visa status while they await their green card approval, which has been in process for almost nine years.
But one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. As an act of revenge against her for speaking out, Tyler and his friends vandalize Zara's house with racist graffiti, leading to a violent crime that puts Zara's entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.
From the author of the "heart-wrenching yet hopeful" (Samira Ahmed) novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, comes a timely, intimate look at what it means to be an immigrant in America today, and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This scrappy underdog story had us cheering almost from the first page. Zara Hossain is used to dealing with Islamophobia at her high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. Still, the constant harassment she endures from football hero Tyler makes it hard to enjoy much of anything. When she finally speaks up and gets Tyler in trouble, he responds with a shocking act of revenge—setting off a chain of events that threatens everything Zara’s family has worked for. Author Sabina Khan is fearless and explicit about the brutal realities of bullying and its devastating effects, but she keeps the focus on Zara’s story and the strength that binds a family together. Even when the Hossains don’t fully accept Zara’s sexuality, her loving relationship with her girlfriend, Chloe, gives her journey some heart-melting moments of connection and care. If you’re looking for a relatable heroine who understands the struggles of being an immigrant, look no further: Zara is here.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As the only Muslim student at her Corpus Christi, Tex., high school, Zara Hossain, 17, faces microaggressions every day but cannot allow herself to show her frustration. She and her family are Pakistani immigrants and have been waiting almost nine years for the end of the torturously long approval process for American green cards; any justice she seeks would threaten that goal. When Tyler Benson—the local white "golden boy" and a leading instigator of Islamophobia among her classmates—vandalizes her locker with racist graffiti, Zara rightfully pursues his suspension. But Zara's decision to speak out about the racism she experiences has staggering consequences: not only for her own family, but also throughout their close-knit, white community. Zara's affectionate relationship with her parents results in a refreshingly non-stereotypical reception to her bisexuality, and a same-sex romance with a "queer Catholic" girl enables a deeper exploration of the intersection between white privilege and religion. The prose at times lacks adequate description, inhibiting readers' full immersion into the narrative, but Khan (The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali) creates a gripping story line centering the conflict between prejudice and tolerance. Ages 14–up.
