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In this insightful and affecting YA novel by well-loved author of books for adults and middle graders Nadia Hashimi, an Afghan American teenager's small town is thrown into controversy and violence when her brother, taking a stand against hatred, plays a prank that some think went too far…
When Yalda hears that her twin brother, Yusuf, will be performing with his band at a local venue, she lets her friends convince her to sneak out to see his show. But the night has something else in store: After the opening band makes some ugly jokes about "terrorists," Yusuf uses his time in the spotlight for an impulsive stunt responding to the hate speech.
Suddenly, simmering tensions begin boiling over in their Virginia town, where many Afghan refugees have sought safety. When a video of Yusuf's performance goes viral online, it seems like everyone in town turns against their family's restaurant, leaving their livelihood in jeopardy. And then Yusuf is seriously injured in a mysterious fall.
Despite her grieving and frightened family, friends she is not sure she can trust, and a town that no longer feels like a safe home, Yalda must try to find her own voice—and do what she can to change her world for the better.
"Utilizing Yal's sharp-witted first-person POV, debut author Hashimi exposes how the prevalence of unchecked and unchallenged racism can lead to violence, as well as how American-born Afghans are othered and recently arrived Afghan refugees are scapegoated. Clever dialogue between the vividly individualized characters lightens harrowing depictions of anti-Islamic hate crimes in this tightly structured and engagingly paced read." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Introduces critical themes but struggles to address them with sufficient depth and nuance." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about Spilled Ink was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Chris Carter Photography
Nadia Hashimi was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. Both her parents were born in Afghanistan and left in the early 1970s, before the Soviet invasion. Nadia attended Brandeis University where she obtained degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and Biology. She enrolled in medical school in Brooklyn and after graduation went on to complete her pediatric training at NYU/Bellevue hospitals in New York City. On completing her training, Nadia moved to Maryland where she works as a pediatrician. She is married and has three children, and an African Grey parrot.
Link to Nadia Hashimi's Website
Name Pronunciation
Nadia Hashimi: Huh-SHEE-mee
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