Roses, in the mouth of a lion

Razia Mirza is a Pakistani American growing up in 1980s Corona, a conservative, immigrant Muslim community in Queens surrounding the first Sunni mosque built in New York. In the close confines of their urban village, Razia and her friends are raised as strictly observant Muslims with traditional cultural mores, food, language, clothing, and social interactions. Razia's mother rules with an iron hand, and Razia is dutiful, complying to household rules and the expectations of her community. The beauty of this story is watching Razia become stronger, independent, even rebellious. When she leaves Queens to attend high school in Manhattan, she finds herself involved in a relationship with another girl that jeopardizes her place in her family and community. But no matter the consequences, she wants to be true to herself. Having grown up as a Muslim in Corona, Rehman intimately understands the pervasive and persuasive influence that this enclave exerts on Razia. Rehman's masterful prose, peppered with Urdu phrases, evokes rich emotional and social nuances regarding a particularly sensitive divide between generations in a community of immigrants trying to hold on to their culture even as they make new lives for themselves in a new country.

Rehman beautifully conjures in her stellar debut a Queens, N.Y., Pakistani American community and a girl's coming to terms with her identity. As children, Razia and her friends bounce between houses under the watchful eyes of Pakistani aunties and loll about in backyards overgrown with roses, sunflowers, and grapevines, as well as weeds, old sofas, and rusty cars. The scenes brim with the pluck and tumult of young friendship while also portraying the uneasy racial balance that the first-generation children navigate in 1980s Queens. In the summer, of '85, Razia and her friend Saima secretly collect cans to scrounge up money, defying their parents. When treated with disdain by employees at the collection center, Razia realizes why they were told to stay away from it. Back at school in the sixth grade, a group of mean girls descends upon Razia and her friend Taslima, shouting, "Pajama People!" While acutely aware of how her Muslim faith differentiates her, Razia finds comfort and beauty in her heritage, connecting her "like a kite string" to everyone she loves. Razia happily coexists among cultures, excelling at reading the Quran and harboring an intense crush on George Michael, until she gains a spot at a competitive high school in Manhattan. There, she falls in love with a girl, forcing her to choose between her true self and her family. A distinctive and infectious voice takes hold of the reader from the first page, where Razia introduces her neighborhood: "the Corona F. Scott Fitzgerald called the valley of ashes... but what me and my own know as home." This deeply immersive novel heralds the arrival of an exciting new writer. (Dec.)

After her best friend walks away, 1980s Queens, NY-based Razia Mirza launches a classic preteen rebellion--cutting school, listening to off-limits music--with a new girl in her Pakistani American community. Then she gets into elite Stuyvesant High School, is attracted to Angela, and recognizes the difference between what her parents want for her and what she wants for herself. A story of friendship and queer love in the Muslim American community from debuter Rehman; with a 50,000-copy first printing.