 It’s 1978, and sixth grader Zomorod (Cindy) Yousefzadeh, who was born in Abadan, Iran, has just moved to Newport Beach, California. Her fitting in is very difficult because of the protests, revolution, and the taking of the U.S. hostages in Iran. Her father loses his job as an engineer at an oil refinery and Cindy has to face hostile prejudice at school and in her neighborhood. Humorous asides will keep readers engaged as Cindy finds new friends after moving, deals with family issues, and discovers her middle school self. Each short chapter has a clever title and the final author’s note suggests documentaries and websites with more information about the historical and cultural facts of this semi-autobiographical novel. mjw |
| Title: It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel Author: Firoozeh Dumas Publisher: Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Copyright: 2016 Original Language: English ISBN: 978-0-544-61231-0 Hardcover pages: 384 Age range: 10-12 Genre: Fiction Book setting: Southern California, U.S. Author’s ethnicity: Iranian Author’s residence: Munich, Germany Subjects: Emigration and immigration, Friendship, Humorous stories, Iran, Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981), Iranian-Americans, Middle East, Muslim-Americans. Prejudice and racism, Social issues – adolescence, United States history – 20th century |
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel
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