I REALLY wanted to enjoy this book and unfortunately it didn't hit the mark for me as much as I had hoped. Budhos tackled an intense and extremely important topic with Raina's story of the asylum fight she finds herself in, however, I found myself frustrated over and over again with our MC and her illogical choices. They just did NOT make sense to who she seemed to be and what the other characters were telling her. It was hard to have empathy for her because of the decisions she makes as well as the overly complicated personal history that led her mother to seek asylum in the first place. All in all, loved the premise, just couldn't get behind the MC.

Although this book was too “heavy” for me, I did appreciate the story and Ithe importance of having read it..

I will preface this by saying that this book was not written for me. I could never begin to understand how it feels to be seeking asylum in the US.

The story is about a mother and her two children. Rania is 17 and about to graduate high school in NYC. Instead, her mother is taken by ICE and Rania and her little brother are left with no one.

I have a very western viewpoint so it is hard for me to understand. The fact that there are so many secrets in this family. And they are all estranged. It’s just so much for a child to be responsible for. I really felt for Rania and the things she had to overcome throughout this story.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Seventeen-year-old Rania's life drastically changes when her mother, who had fled Pakistan with pregnant Rania for asylum in the US, is arrested by ICE. Suddenly, Rania's normal teenage life of hanging out with her friend Fatima and working at a bookstore is upended. She and her younger brother Kamal, born in the US, are sent to a shelter. There, Rania uncovers a web of lies about their asylum status, her family in Pakistan, her father's identity, and the reasons for their flight to America. With no proof of danger back in Pakistan, their future becomes uncertain.

Carlos's story intersects with Rania's. He's an undocumented teen who escaped gang violence, only to find himself in a shelter and facing deportation at 18. When Rania and Carlos meet, they form a bond and decide to take Kamal on a desperate journey. They initially seek out an unknown uncle for help, but when he refuses, they choose to disappear. They find respite at a motel, earning money and receiving care, and later at a synagogue in Vermont. There, Carlos makes the tough decision to head to Canada, while Rania and Kamal consider returning to Pakistan to support their mother's case, using Rania's resurfacing memories as evidence.

At its core, this story revolves around Rania and Carlos, two fiercely independent and resilient teenagers. They support each other, accept help, and strive to give Kamal the carefree childhood they never had. Their journey is a poignant tale of survival, identity, and the lengths one goes to forge a future against all odds.

This gripping story follows seventeen-year-old Rania as her world is suddenly turned upside down when ICE comes knocking on her family's Brooklyn apartment door. The author masterfully captures the fear and uncertainty that immigrants can face in the United States, even when they believe they've done everything right.

Set in 2019, the novel navigates the turbulent times with a vivid portrayal of Rania's struggle to keep her family together after her mother is taken away. What was meant to be a summer filled with the promise of college and time with her best friend, Fatima, quickly becomes a harrowing journey of survival.

Joined by her younger brother, Kamal, and a newfound friend, Carlos, Rania embarks on a road trip that becomes a quest for answers to questions she never anticipated. The story immerses readers in the complexities of immigration, family bonds, and the resilience of youth in the face of adversity.

"Rania's Summer" is a thought-provoking and timely narrative that delves deep into the human experience, reminding us of the challenges faced by many in their pursuit of a better life.

Thank you to netgalley & the publishing house for this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. This book was thrilling and very engaging. The characters were loveable and the plot was intresting and easy to follow. This is for people who enjoy YA! This book spoke to me and definitely tugged at my heart strings. I would to see this book being read in high schools!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Books on this topic always break my heart but they are so amazing. It shows how the same issue affected different cultures alike and how they go about trying to help themselves. Definitely a must read

We Are All We Have takes place in 2019 Brooklyn. It opens with immigrant Rania Hassan looking forward to heading to Hunter College after a relaxing summer vacation. But an overnight ICE raid leads to her mother's arrest, even though Rania, her 8-year-old brother Kamal and their mother applied for political asylum after her journalist father disappeared in Pakistan. Rania and Kamal are moved to a shelter where they meet Carlos, an undocumented teen who escaped a gang threat in Mexico. After the Zero Tolerance policy was implemented by the Department of Justice, these asylum seekers now face prosecution. The three decide to hit the road to find Rania's estranged uncle who could become their guardian. They end up in a temporary sanctuary synagogue, where they must decide the next step in their search for safe haven. This poignant story effectively illustrates how US immigration policies separate families and leave vulnerable children to fend for themselves. Ghazals, Indian poetry which aspiring literature major Rania pens, beautifully express her anguish, as she and the boys fight to stay in the US.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend this for my friend group.

We Are All We Have follows 17-year-old Rania. Her mother was taken by ICE, and it is up to Rania, and her younger brother, Kamal, to figure out the next steps. They have to grow up so fast as they try to unravel a very complicated web.

I thought that Marina Burgos did a marvelous job of capturing Rania’s youthful naïveté. Rania makes choices throughout the story that seem rash, but it is authentic. Even listening to her struggle through her materialistic wants while they face societal danger makes their journey relatable.

Following Rania’s POV is really the only thing that makes sense. It gives us a chance to feel all of her conflicts. I also think that it was a pleasant surprise to learn that she is an immigrant from Syria. There aren’t enough stories about young adults facing immigration challenges, but coming from a middle eastern country made the story much more unique.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy.

We Are All We Have is a hard hitting YA novel about immigration, asylum, ICE and how government agencies pursue illegals and the ramifications surrounding the seizure of them. This story is told from the perspective of a young woman who goes on the run with her younger brother when their mother is detained by ICE. This is a great novel for young teenagers who want to expand their minds on what life can be like for immigrants their age.

This book just wasn’t for me. I felt like the pacing was a little too slow and I never found myself eager to pick the book back up. It wasn’t the writing that I didn’t care for but the development of the story.

Short and concise, very straight to the story and point of it which I appreciate. Sad and important - Felt very realistic.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I like the story I like the meaning behind it I think it’s a very important one for people to hear and read about. It’s real, it’s honest, it’s something that happens everyday here and it so important for people to realize how it effects family- even though it’s fiction it still is relevant because this does happen.

We Are All We Have is a hard-hitting, if short and concise contemporary, capturing the reality of the impact on families during the “Muslim immigration ban” during the previous presidential adminstration, but also more broadly about the immigrant experience in general, and how it reflects the desire for survival, freedom, and the hope for better, as it always has, even if the powers that he choose to ironically and selectively politicize it.

But I appreciate that, while there are some deep themes, Marina Budhos avoids making her characters into martyrs for the sake of the cause. Rania’s family is dealing with the consequences of xenophobic policy, but she’s also a typical flawed, messy teenage girl, giving into impulsiveness and selfishness at times. However, she’s also a good sister, looking after her younger brother, Kamal, and she’s very much at the crossroads of navigating the typical teen challenges, while also having to grow up fast to deal with her family’s situation.

I also enjoy the road-trip aspect as they attempt to navigate their tenuous circumstances and find happiness and clarity where they can. It also forms the perfect structure for the book, keeping the momentum going.

This is a beautiful, moving, and hopeful read, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA contemporaries.

Title: We Are All We Have
Author: Marina Budhos
Genre: YA
Rating: 3 out of 5

There’s a knock at the door.
It’s the police.
They’re taking Rania’s mom.

Seventeen-year-old Rania doesn’t understand why—they’ve done all the right things, haven’t they? Her mom said their case with immigration was fine. If this was a lie, what else is?

Alone with her younger brother, Kamal, Rania will have to figure out how to survive. When they wind up in a home with other kids waiting to hear if they can stay in this country, she meets a charming boy named Carlos. He persuades Rania to go to her high school graduation. And from there, they just keep driving.

Searching for freedom while feeling trapped by circumstances beyond their control, Rania begins to fall for Carlos and uncovers painful truths about her family, and this country, where being an asylum seeker or an undocumented immigrant can mean anything but freedom.

I didn’t find Rania or her mother very likable at all. Raina’s mother seems to never tell the truth, and while at first Raina has a problem with that, eventually she seems to think it’s perfectly justified. It’s not. And Raina embraces her identity as a victim and continually runs away from her problems instead of taking responsibility for her actions. Solid writing, plus this being a very quick read were the only things that made me finish reading this.


Marina Budhos is an award-winning author. We Are All We Have is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Random House Children’s in exchange for an honest review.)

This book was not written for me. It is for immigrants and the children of immigrants. It is for those who feel that the place they are in does not welcome them, does not accept them. It’s a story about the complicated experiences that people have to go through, but also about the hope that you can find in them.
Rania is such a messy character, and I mean that in the best way. She is impulsive, proud, and a bit selfish at times. She's a teenager, she's been through a lot and when she thought everything would be alright, it's not. She is shocked at the unfairness of it all. I like that she's allowed to have these emotions, because that's exactly what makes her such a great character.
It touches on family relationships and just relationships in general, connecting with others and accepting help and the importance of being there for one another. The way Rania interacts with her brother, trying to make things easier for him, to give him the peace that she couldn't have. There is also Carlos, someone she can relate to and trust to comfort or protect her.
I think there’s much to learn from this story and I loved that we got to read it and accompany Rania on her journey.
This was a great book and I would definitely recommend it.

This is a very timely story. The reader will empathize with the struggle and journey faced by many. This is very eye-opening and a great addition to classroom libraries and reading lists.

In many ways this book reads like a reboot of the author's 2007 book Ask Me No Questions, there are sprinkled in references to Islamic culture, but nothing about the characters or the author truly show the book to be a Muslim story, or Islam centered.   Much like Ask Me No Questions, the book is told through a female protagonist who is forced to figure out why a parent is detained, what to do now that they are on their own with a sibling, and figuring out why they are being forced to leave America if they are not undocumented, but asylum seekers.  And much like that book, the protagonist is really whiney, entitled, and annoying, as is the mother.  This 256 page middle school/young YA read draws drama from the 2019 Muslim ban and ICE raids, but is more a character based plot than a political focused telling.  Because of the similarities to the earlier published book, and the lack of Islam in the text, and being unclear regarding the faith of the author, I'm just going to write a quick review and move on. The book is a quick read it has flashbacks to Pakistan and in those scenes mentions mosques, Eid, and Ramadan in passing. A few cultural side characters mutter an inshaAllah on occasion and there is a clear #muslimintheillustrations like side character that is remarked to wear a scarf on her head named Amirah, but is barely in the story.  Worth being aware of for younger readers is romance, kissing, making out, between Rania and Carlos, and *SPOILER* that the mother left her husband for another man years earlier. 

SYNOPSIS:

Rania is weeks away from high school graduation when an ICE raid casts a wide net and picks up her mother as collateral.  Rania has always known they check in regularly to appeal their status, but with her journalist father killed years earlier in Pakistan, the family fled to America for safety, Kamal was even born in America, it has never been a concern.  As her mother gets taken away, Rania starts to wonder about the secrets her mother has always kept and the truth starts to unravel.  In the process though, protective services takes her and her brother to a shelter where they meet Carlos and escape.  Once on the run, they attend Rania's graduation, spend months on Cape Cod, gain protection from a congregation at a synagogue all while trying to piece together Rania's truth.

WHY I LIKE IT:

I like that it touches on the Muslim Ban and the fear that gripped the nation for anyone in the process of being a citizen or trying to travel to the flagged countries.  I wish it would have actually spent a bit more time on that.  The title of the book makes it sound like the family is completely alone and isolated, yet, they are constantly surrounded by people that are looking out for them and sympathetic in their choice not to ask too many questions.  I struggled with liking Rania, when you write a book about people that may or may not have broken a law, regardless of if you agree with the law or not, you really have to make it compelling. You have to get behind the character and their motives, and I never did.  I did not understand why she for example finally finds her uncle or an aunt and doesn't demand answers, it is like, I'm tired, I'll nap and we will talk later, no, not believable.  Additionally, I could not get a feel for the younger brother, I get that he is sheltered, but he reads like he is four years old, not that he is in second grade at best, I think he might be in fourth.  Really all over the place.  And the Rania and Carlos relationship, should have stayed awkward.  They at times are like siblings, and when the line is crossed, Carlos even remarks on it, and I think having it be weird, but clear that they have a bond, would have been a much stronger choice.  A lot of the plot holes make the story drag such as what was the problems at the bank for the uncle, but because it is short, I think older readers will get through it. I don't think I'd suggest anyone read the book, but it isn't so awful that I would warn too harshly against it.   The characters don't identify or act Muslim, so when they kiss or lie, it isn't a reflection on the religion.

FLAGS:

Kissing, lying, running away, making-out. Muslim friend sneaking out, drinking, partying, stereotypical oppressive Muslim dad and meek mom.  

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

I don't know that I would throw the book out, but I wouldn't actively seek to acquire it to shelve either.