Hope Ablaze

Debut author Rana explores Islamophobia and politics via a magical lens in this genre-bending novel set in post-9/11 America. Eighteen-year-old Pakistani American Nida Siddiqui is the niece of renowned poet Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh, who was incarcerated on trumped-up charges during the “war on terror.” On her way home from visiting him, Nida is violently and illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, during which her hijab is forcibly removed by law enforcement. In response, she writes a series of poems and journal entries, one of which goes viral after Nida’s notebook mysteriously disappears. Suddenly, her quiet life is upended: she’s accused of defaming the candidate, and her uncle loses legal representation. When Nida realizes that she’s cursed (“Did Allah do this to me?”) to never write again, she is forced to choose between the safety of silence or the power of her voice. Through a mixture of verse and occasionally didactic prose, Rana effectively portrays the friction between religious freedom and state-sponsored secularism, underpinned by discussion surrounding wrongful incarceration and xenophobia. The result is a thought-provoking and provocative novel about faith, family, and friendship. Ages 13–up. (Feb.)