Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. Click on the cover for the link to its Goodreads page.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
It is expected to be released on October 16, 2018, by HarperTeen.
I know not everyone likes the cover, but I do! For some reason, I felt this is a perfect way of showing how the main character, Shirin is struggling with being a Muslim American and a young teenager while dealing with the aftermath of 9/11.
I cannot wait for this book. This is one of the books that we all need to read because it actually is coming from a real-life experience that Tahereh herself experienced. Are you looking forward to this book?
It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.
Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments — even the physical violence — she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother.
But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her — they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds — and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.
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