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From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice.

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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"A raw yet astoundingly elegant examination of identity, loneliness and family that is unflinching in its honesty and power. Tahereh Mafi holds nothing back--and the reader is better for it." Sabaa Tahir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Ember in the Ashes series

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