But this boy with a strange name manages to find a crack and break that wall down. Where Ocean is naive yet open and bold, Shirin has wrapped her anger around herself like the thickest wall, thinking it will be enough to protect her. Their relationship is almost Romeo and Juliet-esque, but thankfully no one dies in the end. I was stuck in another small town, trapped in another universe populated by the kind of people who’d only ever seen faces like mine on their evening news, and I hated it.īut then there are those people who are so good, they help to block some of that bad stuff out. And I never thought I’d say that about a book with so much breakdancing. It’s been a while since a book with as much substance as this one has drawn me in so completely. What a beautiful, raw, heart-breaking, yet somehow uplifting story. If you do nothing else the rest of this year, you must read this book. What you might not think of is the genuine, emotional, fully seated-in-reality powerhouse that is A Very Large Expanse of Sea. ❤️Ī post shared by tahereh mafi on at 12:34pm PDT AVLEOS is the most personal book i’ve ever written. seven years later and i’m about to publish my eighth book and it’s hard not to reflect on a myriad of things. there was no one to talk to or turn to or rely on. i’d never heard of a Muslim woman on the YA bestseller list, never seen a woman in hijab on book tour. no one had ever given me permission to do this, to simply write books for fun, for pleasure-to make a career out of it. never seen a YA author who looked like me. i’d never heard of a YA author who looked like me. mostly i remember being terrified and feeling very alone. When I was a kid and would tell my mom that people at school were mean to me, she'd pat me on the head and tell me stories about how she'd lived through war and an actual revolution, and when she was fifteen someone cracked open her skull in the middle of the street while her best friend was gutted like a fish so hey, why don't you just eat your Cheerios and walk it off, you ungrateful American child.I sold my first book when i was 23, a veritable lifetime ago. "People had been s-ting on me for having the wrong name/race/religion and socioeconomic status since as far back as I could remember, but my life had been so easy in comparison to my parents' own upbringing that they genuinely couldn't understand why I didn't wake up singing every morning. In addition to a lot of crude language, there are many life lessons and unexpected sweet moments, as well as a growing sense of empathy with troubles other than your own. In the process we learn a lot about Muslim daily life and culture - and what it means to different people. her lab partner and unexpected love interest Ocean, narrator Shirin learns quite a bit about overcoming some of her own prejudices as well as surviving those of others. Confronted with A Very Large Expanse of Sea, i.e. Show moreĪs she herself suggests, this heartfelt, poignant, bitterly funny tale of a foul-mouthed Muslim teen trying to survive post-9/11 high school is the book Tahereh Mafi's been trying to write all along. Bullies attack her in freshman year, knock her down, and try to rip the hijab from her head. Shirin and other Muslim kids suffer constant prejudice, bigotry, and threats of violence. There are numerous make-out sessions and sexual banter. Frequent strong language includes "f-k," "s-t," "d-k," "goddamn," "Jesus Christ!" and more. There's lots about the experience of growing up as the child of refugee immigrants and the struggle to be and be seen as yourself without all the baggage others put on you. There's quite a bit about the harmful effects of prejudice and stereotyping - and how to overcome your own bias and see things as someone else does, which forms a positive contrast to the barrage of hateful or clueless behavior from many teens and adults. His name is Ocean (hence the title), and he feels the same about her. Main character Shirin wears a hijab, swears like a sailor, loves breakdancing - and against all odds, falls in love with the most popular, good-looking basketball player in her sports-crazy school. Parents need to know that A Very Large Expanse of Sea, by Iranian American author Tahereh Mafi ( Whichwood), is a fiery, relatable, quasi-autobiographical novel of being a post-9/11 Muslim high school sophomore.
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