Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR BOOK - A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE CENTURY "Nothing short of magic." --Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet X From the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africa's "30 Under 30" list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home. my mother meant to name me for her favorite flower
its sweetness garlands made for pretty girls
i imagine her yasmeen bright & alive
& i ache to have been born her instead Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn't feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn't feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen--the name her parents meant to give her at birth--Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows. And the life Nima wishes were someone else's. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.
Author: Safia Elhillo
Publisher: Make Me a World
Published: 02/22/2022
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780593177082
ISBN10: 0593177088
BISAC Categories:
- Young Adult Fiction | Poetry
- Young Adult Fiction | Religious | Muslim
- Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
its sweetness garlands made for pretty girls
i imagine her yasmeen bright & alive
& i ache to have been born her instead Nima wishes she were someone else. She doesn't feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesn't feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen--the name her parents meant to give her at birth--Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows. And the life Nima wishes were someone else's. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.
Author: Safia Elhillo
Publisher: Make Me a World
Published: 02/22/2022
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780593177082
ISBN10: 0593177088
BISAC Categories:
- Young Adult Fiction | Poetry
- Young Adult Fiction | Religious | Muslim
- Young Adult Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
About the Author
Safia Elhillo is the author of the poetry collection The January Children, which received the the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and a 2018 Arab American Book Award.