Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan

Zara Hossain Is Here

Sabina Khan

Scholastic Inc. · Hardcover · April 6, 2021

Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens.

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Who it’s for
A grounded YA read with identity, belonging, and the pressure of being seen.
Genres
Immigration for Teens, YA LGBTQ+, Prejudice & Racism for Teens
Published
Scholastic Inc., April 6, 2021

About this book

Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them. Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician.

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While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low, trying not to stir up any trouble and jeopardize their family's dependent visa status while they await their green card approval, which has been in process for almost nine years. But one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. As an act of revenge against her for speaking out, Tyler and his friends vandalize Zara's house with racist graffiti, leading to a violent crime that puts Zara's entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it. From the author of the "heart-wrenching yet hopeful" (Samira Ahmed) novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali, comes a timely, intimate look at what it means to be an immigrant in America today, and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate.

Grounded and personal

A grounded YA read with identity, belonging, and the pressure of being seen.

Come here for

  • Muslim YA by Sabina Khan
  • themes of immigration and prejudice

Expect

  • love and romance
  • America in the background

Where it sits

Immigration for Teens80%
Prejudice & Racism for Teens36%
YA LGBTQ+36%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Bullying for Teens
  • Immigration for Teens
  • Faith & Belief
Authors
Sabina Khan
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
Published
April 6, 2021
Format
Hardcover
Reading lane
Bullying for Teens