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Summary
Summary
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children's/Young Adult
One of Rolling Stone 's 40 Best YA Novels
A 2014 ALA Rainbow List Top 10 Title
A Booklist Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2013
A Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" 2013
In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture.
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They've shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love--Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light.
So they carry on in secret--until Nasrin's parents announce that they've arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they had before, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively--and openly.
Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman's body is seen as nature's mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants in the body she wants to be loved in without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?
Reviews (7)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Farizan's novel set in contemporary Iran, 17-year-old Sahar struggles with her love for her best friend, a girl named Nasrin, whom she has wanted to marry for over a decade. Nasrin loves Sahar, but decides to accept an arranged marriage-which eventually prompts Sahar to consider sex reassignment surgery, the only legal way the two could be together. Farsad's narration is heartwarming, and she creates unique voices for various characters-including the flighty and somewhat shallow Nasrin; the more serious, passionate Sahar; Sahar's edgy cousin Ali; and Ali's gentle friend Parveen. Altogether, a winning, timely, and important audio production. Ages 14-up. An Algonquin hardcover. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend Nasrin for years, but the girls live in Iran, where their love is illegal. That hasnt kept them from being together, but now Nasrin has accepted a marriage proposal, and both girls must face the untenable future of their relationship. Sahar, a serious student and rule-follower, starts spending time with her cousin Ali and his underground community of criminals and misfits. Her plan, inspired by her new friendsto pretend to be transgendered (sexual reassignment, while stigmatized, is legal) in order to stay with Nasrinis not so much the center of the story as the catalyst for the complicated social drama that unfolds. Farizan imbues characters and relationships with depth and complexity, especially when it comes to the cracks in Nasrin and Sahars romance that have nothing to do with restrictive laws and everything to do with Nasrins self-absorption. First love is the heart of the matter here; even as readers learn about an unfamiliar culture, they will recognize the universal dynamics of a struggling relationship. Meanwhile, secondary characters, especially Ali and his compatriots, provide intriguing and sometimes disturbing cameos that illuminate a variety of circumstances and individuals at the margins of society. A unique and thoughtful debut. claire e. gross (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Teens Sahar and Nasrin have loved each other since they were young girls, but homosexuality is a crime in Iran, and the two girls could be severely punished, even executed, for their romantic love for one another. When an arranged marriage for Nasrin threatens the girls' secret relationship, Sahar vows to take action, but what can she do? Desperate, she decides to have sex-reassignment surgery to become a man so that she can marry her friend. Surprisingly, such surgery is legal in Iran and even paid for, at least in part, by the government, and Sahar also has the caring support of a transsexual friend. Still, will she be able to follow through, and, if not, what will the future hold for the two devoted friends? Farizan's first novel is an accomplished and compassionate look at a heartbreaking situation and the possibility of an unlikely but plausible solution. Throughout, the author presents a groundbreaking, powerful depiction of gay and transsexual life in Iran and its similarities to and differences from that of the West. An intimate look at life in modern-day Iran and its surprising Westernization, even though much of this culture is clandestine.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
"I'll find a way for us to be together," Sahar, 17, tells her secret girlfriend. She's been in love with Nasrin since they were 6 years old and dreams of marrying her. But they live in Tehran, where samesex relationships are illegal and brutally punished. Sahar's quest leads her deep into Iran's underground LGBT scene. There she meets Parveen, a transwoman, whose circumstances reveal a surprising fact: Iranian law upholds transsexuals' rights. The state even subsidizes genderreassignment surgery. Sahar starts to wonder: Could she become a man, sacrificing her identity to openly marry Nasrin? She devises a scheme that - even for a teenager drenched in the heady hormones of first love - feels staggeringly naïve. (Never mind that she fails to mention this plan to Nasrin, a fairly flat character, whose idea of devotion is amassing a prodigious collection of shoes.) Farizan's prose is frank, funny and bittersweet, enjoyable even when Sahar's rashness strains belief. And her secondary story lines ring out memorably, especially the speakeasy-style gatherings of Iran's gay subculture and Sahar's relationship with her father, a listless widower.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-In this terrific debut novel, readers meet Sahar, a 17-year-old student who lives in Tehran. She is smart and ambitious, and she has a secret that could get her arrested or even killed; she is a lesbian and is in love with her best friend. When Nasrin's parents arrange for her to marry a young male doctor, Sahar knows that she and Nasrin will no longer be able to be with each other. When desperate Sahar meets transsexual Parveen at a party given by her gay cousin, she thinks she sees a way to be with Nasrin. In Iran, it is not illegal to be transsexual, as it is to be gay or lesbian, and the state will even pay for sex reassignment surgery because it is seen as a necessary medical procedure. Sahar pursues sex reassignment, dreaming of marrying Nasrin even though she knows in her heart that she doesn't really want to become a man. As Nasrin's wedding approaches, Sahar realizes its inevitability and must decide what she is going to do. Farizan's portrayal of Sahar and her predicament is sensitive and heartbreaking. Even less-sympathetic characters, such as Nasrin and her parents, are portrayed in a nuanced manner; in the culture Farizan depicts, the girls' fears that their romantic relationship will become known are realistic and understandable. Rich with details of life in contemporary Iran, this is a GLBTQ story that we haven't seen before in YA fiction. Highly recommended.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Sahar, a teenage lesbian living in Iran, contemplates desperate measures when she learns the girl she loves is marrying a man. Sahar has loved Nasrin since childhood. Nasrin swears she loves Sahar back, but she is rich, spoiled and unwilling to disappoint her mother, a combination that spells tragedy to readers even though Sahar remains poignantly hopeful. When Nasrin's family announces her engagement to a doctor, Sahar is heartsick. Through her gay cousin Ali's underground network, Sahar meets a woman named Parveen. Upon learning that Parveen is transsexual, Sahar hatches a scheme to transition herself, certain that Nasrin would marry her if she were a man. Gentle, unintrusive exposition clues readers into Iran's political and social realities, and the characters' choices about how to wear head scarves or how openly to talk about same-sex attractions are refreshingly and believably diverse. So too are the members of the transgender support group Sahar attends: The group has a broad enough range of experience that readers never get the message that transition itself is a mistake, only that it is the wrong choice for Sahar. Each character and relationship is kindly and carefully drawn, from Sahar's sad, shut-down Baba to reckless, twinkling Ali. A moving and elegant story of first love and family. (Fiction. 12-18)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Being a teenage girl is tough enough, but when you live in Iran and you're gay-in a country where homosexuality is not just considered sinful but illegal-life seems almost impossible. Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend Nasrin since she was six years old. They've been subsisting on secret romantic encounters and impossible promises, but now that Nasrin is 18, her mother insists that she marry. After the upcoming nuptials, the girls will lose any chance for their relationship to continue. The loss of Nasrin's love is more than Sahar can handle, and she begins searching for extreme ways to make their relationship possible. Listeners will gain insight into life as a gay young woman in an unaccepting world, and Sahar's desperation to be with the one she loves is a story with which all can empathize. Negin Farsad's inconsistency in character voices makes dialog among characters difficult to follow at times, but the overall story is not lost. VERDICT Recommended.-Elizabeth Hoff, Bulverde Spring Branch Lib., TX (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
