Six Truths and a Lie

In this audacious novel by Shukairy (The Next New Syrian Girl), a group of Muslim teenagers suspected of a terrorist attack face pressure from the press, the police, and their own families to turn against one another. Dubbed the Six, the teens—Abdullahi, Muzhda, Nasreen, Qays, Samia, and Zamzam—each come from varying backgrounds; some of them are looking forward to bright futures while others are barely surviving their everyday lives. When all six are picked up by police from Monarch Beach after an oil rig explosion on the Fourth of July, they experience overwhelming Islamophobic paranoia from authorities, are denied basic rights upon their detention, and are kept in the dark about their situations. As new evidence is revealed and investigators threaten to drag the teens’ own secrets into the spotlight, the Six are encouraged to inform on one another to secure their freedom. Now, they each must decide where their loyalties lie by opting to frame a friend or work together. Shukairy swings for the fences, breathing life into each of the six leads who narrate this exhilarating read; interweaving relationships establish a credible and indelible emotional through line, and the story’s resolution is both heartbreaking and stunningly executed. Ages 12–up. Agent: Serene Hakim, Ayesha Pande Literary. (Mar.)