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(2020) When a homophobic classmate threatens to out Amir to his culturally conservative Iranian-American family, Amir runs away -- and lands in Rome, where he finds a second family among a group of gay American expats. It's awkward and funny and offers a hopeful resolution.

And according to PEN America, it has been "banned pending investigation" in schools in Tennessee and Texas. Read #BannedBooks y'all.

First, let me get one thing straight: I'm not a terrorist. I'm gay.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

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After the debate I needed something to cheer me up. This book has blurbs by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera, Angie Thomas, Gayle Forman, and Adib Khorram (Darius the Great Is Not Okay—which was probably my favorite read of 2018); so I thought I‘d give it a try.

I have two pages to go and I want to rate it with hearts instead of stars: ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

It has its issues, but I still loved it.

Amir Azadi has a big secret he is gay, he is also Muslim and is scared to come out to his parents and when a boy sees him sharing a kiss and threatens to expose him then he just runs from home and hops on a plane to Rome where he meets a whole host of colourful characters that allow him to explore his sexuality and and discover who he really is and be proud and open about it.
But there is still the problem of his family and finally it all blows up

"??'? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? ????; ?? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ??????? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ???."⁣
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A great coming of age story about HS senior, Amir. Amir is gay & Muslim, but his family doesn't know. To keep them from finding out, he runs away on graduation day...to Rome. On the journey of a lifetime, Amir ends up finding himself, friends he can call family & a new outlook.

A compelling and original coming out story. Amir is an Iranian American teenager who is gay and in the closet. When another student blackmails him, he absolutely panics and flees to Rome. The story unfolds during Amir's time in Rome, but also at the end of the story, as Amir and his family are interrogated in the airport. Themes of prejudice run throughout - there is homophobia, but also addressed is the systemic bigotry against Muslim people.

I read that this was a cross between Love Simon, and Darius the Great. We shall see.

Out September 22

#CoverLove
#YAedition