I initially wanted to read this because I read that there was anxiety rep. But this book turned into more than I could have ever imagined. It’s about feeling like a foreigner in the land of your birth. It’s about sisterhood, mental health, family, and more.

Told in alternating viewpoints, we have Khadija, born and raised in the states. She’s under the weight of her mother, who she feels doesn’t accept her. She’s a boxer who found happiness in finding her strength. But she wants more out of life but living with her family, she knows they won’t let her fly. She’s also so very funny, and I adored her personality, even with the walls she’s erected.

Leene is new to the states. She’s escaped unimaginable horrors. She wants to start a new life, but the past keeps coming back to swallow her whole. I almost suspect Leene has PTSD, though that’s never stated. I empathized with her so much. She had a quiet strength that shone through in the hardest moments.

Watching these two young women come together in sisterhood was an absolute joy. Shukairy brings to light so many important subjects. We wade through depression and anxiety. The girls discuss how wearing a hijab forces them to make people around them feel comfortable. We go through the massacres and the chemical warfare in Syria. There’s so much more that I cannot find the right words for, but this book is beautiful. It’s funny, meaningful, and so very special; I cannot recommend it enough.

4/5 ☆

As anyone would’ve expected, this was a content-heavy book that explored so much—from what it's like to live in Syria to privilege, having a complicated family dynamic and what lies behind a seemingly perfect family, what it’s like to be a refugee and what it's like to not grow up in one's homeland.

Straight off the bat, I thought I wouldn’t like Khadija Shami. While I didn’t really warm up to her character entirely, I grew to understand her. She went from being a seemingly self-conceited, I-am-rich-and-not-like-the-other-girls to someone who was flawed and made too many mistakes, who went through an incredible character arc. Her interest(and finding escapism) in boxing was really refreshing to see.

As for Leene Tahir, I LOVED HER. Though initially portrayed as the perfect girl who every khaleh wants her daughter to be, the more we get to know her, we get to see the person behind that perfect image. A Syrian girl carrying the nightmares of everything she went through in Syria and then the struggles she went through as a refugee. A sister who made a decision that torments her, who has to hold her grief deep within her to move on.. A daughter who is forced to be strong despite all she lost.

When the girls first met, a chance of friendship between both was so unlikely but as the story progressed, we see how they both help each other not just find a balance between both America and Syria, trauma and healing, but also their deep insecurities and who they are.

This is an informative, explorative YA book featuring the grief and friendship between two very different hijabi Syrian girls. You should definitely check it out(check tw's first)

LOVE the Arabic definitions included to help guide me through unfamiliar cultures. Great MC. Enough cast to keep it moving without being overwhelming. Serious topics were discussed with care. I found myself rooting for the love story (and I'm not even a sappy person!). Not wholly believable, but still worthy of reading and learning. This is another book that I'll be excited to talk to my students about!

Overall: 4.5 stars

I'll tell my students about: sex, language, physical violence, death of parent, death of child, suicide, mental health issues

**Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the free ARC.. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Khadija, raised in the U.S. by Syrian parents, lives a privileged life and wants for nothing. Leene, raised in Syria but living in the U.S. with Khadija and her family, has lived through the horrors of war and has lost many family members, including her father and two brothers. Both girls feel a tremendous sense of guilt and a desire to belong more in both worlds. When Khadija and Leene discover that things may not be as they appear, they concoct a plan to try to right some wrongs, and somewhere along the way they start to feel like maybe they do belong.

I almost didn’t finish this book since Khadija was a total brat in the beginning. She had a strong sense of entitlement, was snotty to Leene, and complained endlessly about her mother’s interference in her life. Once Khadija stopped resenting Leene for being the daughter her mother wanted her to be, the book became more interesting to me. I’m glad I stuck with this book because the literal and emotional journeys that both girls undertook was worth waiting for.

Recommended for gr. 7-12.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one's hard for me to review. Because I did enjoy reading it, I really did. I just can't see myself ever rereading it. It was emotionally draining. The heedless racism our characters faced was infuriating. It's ridiculous that we live in a world where this cycle of hatred perpetuates. This book didn't shy away from addressing that cycle, and it was one of the things that made it so great.

I also loved all of the inter-character relationships. They all felt real. The family dynamics felt like any family. The friendships were just as flawed as any real friendship. I loved the way the family plots ended up resolving themselves. Especially because the ending was left so open. It really felt like life. We won't ever get to know how Khadija's family repaired itself, but we do get to know that they've started the journey towards happiness.

The soul of this one definitely resides in its realness. It was hard to read because of it, but it was a more rewarding book for it. I'd recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book a lot. Through dual POVs, it tells the story two girls who both have Syrian heritage, but who also have very different lives and experiences. The story gives a natural, honest glimpse into Syrian culture and the different ways it can look for different people. Khadija and Leene have very different personalities, which at times interacts in funny ways. I love the enemies-to-friends vibe of the book, and while there is romance (with a great love interest), I appreciated that the girls' growing friendship was more of a central focus. As a whole, this book really centers around family, friendship, identity, guilt, and grief, and each of these things is handled in a really lovely way. This is a book that will run readers through all of the emotions, from joy and laughter to heartbreak to desperate hope. It also strikes me because Leene and Khadija both have stories similar to so many people in real life. And whether it is a story that you personally relate to or not, I think this story has the power to touch everyone who reads it in a really meaningful way.

What I liked most was that the relationships between all of the characters are complicated and messy, which is real and honest. Instead of simple conflicts with a clear "villain" of the situation who just obviously needs to view things differently, this story presents the many differing yet valid points of view of experiences people within a family can have. A major conflict exists between Khadija and her mother, and even throughout the novel Khadija is able to reflect on her her mother's perspective with genuine compassion without invalidating her own feelings. Not a single character makes perfect choices all the time, because people are messy, and the situations life has put them and their people through are especially messy. I just really appreciated how raw and real this book felt, while still being a fun and enjoyable story.

This was a fun read! I enjoyed having two main Muslim Hijabi characters, and to have them both represent two different sides of the Syrian story was really beautiful.

Following Khadija and Leene, I found I enjoyed Leene’s story much more, her pain and following her and her mother’s story back to Syria. Their friendship blooming despite their initial differences was also something beautiful in the story.

The one thing I had an issue with was the romance. Khadija is a hijabi Muslim girl who boxes at a gym who’s majority is men. I loved that the love interest was Somali, but seeing that they didn’t follow proper Islamic way of engagement and marriage was so disappointing. There’s a scene where he skims her body with his gloves that just threw me off completely and almost made me stop reading. As a hijabi woman, this is not something she should let happen, and I’m not sure why anyone saw fit to keep that scene in the book.

Other than this, it was a very good read and I recommend it!

The way the ending made me sob.This book was a masterpiece in itself. I really relayed to Khadijah’s conflicts with her mom and they both had to overcome cultural differences. The author did a really good job in humanizing refugees especially because Westen media loves to dehumanize them. I literally binged the last 40 pages because I had to know what would happen. Tears man.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me in tears, both happy and sad, multiple times, which, to me, is the sign of a great book. Disclaimer: I cry very easily, so take that as you will.

The characters were all well fleshed out and their growth was beautiful to see. I really enjoyed reading and learning about Syria and what it was like before and after the revolution, because what you see on the news these days only captures the after, and the before is also very important to know about.

All in all, I adored this book.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am so glad I requested it.
This story follows two Syrian Muslims, Khadija and Leene, both so different from each other. The former raised in America and the latter a refugee from Syria who's recently lost everyone she loves. At first Khadija seemed very annoying and rude but I later on came to love her quite a lot as I came to know her part of the story. The only thing I didn't like about her was how she said she wouldn't do a certain haram thing just because her mom wouldn't allow it and that bothered me a lot. We, Muslims, should be religious for ourselves and not for others, I didn't like that part regarding Muslim representation. I also loved the complex characters in this book and were interesting to read about like Khadija's mom and Zain. All the people's lives like Leene, Khadija and countless other Syrians were heart-wrenching to read about and I almost cried. There was so much pain laced into this book and I highly recommend it to all.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow . Just a marvel . Still tryna process it but will articulate my thoughts as best as I can 😅.

Two girls , same yet so different . Torn between the images of being the perfect daughter and a refugee from a war torn country .When they meet ,a friendship slowly sparks between them and they learn they're not that much different from each other .

Khadija is the no nonsense 18 year old Syrian American who dreams of escaping her mother's iron control over her life . She's tired of her mother's nagging to be the perfect Syrian daughter .and her only solace is the gym and her friends Nassima and Younus (who she dates later ,) . Lenne Taher is a Syrian refugee ,just arrived in Detriot with her mother . Her father and brothers are dead ,killed by bombs and shooting . She battled a great many obstacles to arrive in the USA , living in 3 countries. Soon Khadija and Lenne become roommates .Mother fawns over Lenne dolling her up in Khadija's dresses and comparing the girls , using Lenne as the poster child of the perfect Syrian girl ,much to Khadija's resentment . To Lenne ,Khadija is the stereotype of the obnoxious ,entitled American.

Khadija learns about Lenne's trauamtic past and the two bond sharing stories of Syria . We learn about the Syria that was before 2011, a Beautiful Ancient Syria thrumming with a 2000 year old history . surrounded by mountains and the sea and the Syria after 2011 with the rising up against the 50 year old oppressive Al Assad regime , bombings , chemical attacks ,rubble , children orphaned , innocent peopled killed or imprisoned and the perils faced by the millions of refugees to seek better lives ,the discrimation , the seperation ,the language barriers. The Trump's adminstration's Muslim ban and the apathy towards refugees .

Khadija learns Lenne's younger brother may be alive and she heads to an orphanage for Syrian children in Jordan to search for him . Along the way , she finds love ,deeper friendship and the courage to stand up to her mother and khalehs .

The was a great start to 2023 and its such a heartwarming book of sisterhood , friendships and Syrian culture . A love letter to Syria , her people and strong willed girls who do not want to be boxed under society's expectations .

Rep : Syrian American , Syrian , Muslim American , Hijabs , Arabs , Tunisian American

Thank you NetGalley and TBR and Beyond Tours for the chance to read and review this book for the book tour!

My review will be up on the 14th of Jan.

This book explores the lives of two different Syrian girls - Khadija the Syrian American and Leene the Syrian refugee. Despite their differences, they both struggle with the war in their country and the guilt that follows them. The characters were well-developed and I enjoyed seeing them build their friendship, which progressed with many difficulties. Most of all, I felt connected to the characters and loved seeing them build familial relationships as they learned to overcome their guilt and learn to love themselves as they are.

The older she gets, the more difficult Khadija Shami finds it to get along with her mother. Now, a senior in high school and almost 18, Khadi spends long hours practicing boxing at a gym her mother disapproves of. The more she yearns to escape her mother’s overbearing insistence on Khadi turning into a perfect Syrian daughter, the clingier her mother becomes.

Khadi can’t wait until her birthday when her mother will no longer have legal control of her. She wants what every American girl on the cusp of graduation wants—to make decisions on her own, live authentically, and orchestrate her love life. Khadi takes up boxing for self-protection. One too many racist bullies have lumped her together with all Muslims—including terrorists.

Leene Taher, a Syrian refugee and utter failure as a daughter, has nothing in common with Kadija Shami. But for some unknown reason, Kadija’s mother has invited Leene and her mother to live with them until they get on their feet in their adopted country. Leene doesn’t understand Khadija with her blunt ways and hostility. But she knows if she could avoid charity, she would. Detroit, MI, feels nothing like Syria or any of the refugee camps they’ve lived in.

If only Leene and her mother could put the sadness of the past behind them, maybe they would start to thrive. But the past slams into Leene at her welcome party, and only by befriending Khadija will she ever hope to make amends for her past mistake.

What I Loved About This Book

Told from alternative points of view (Khadija’s and Leene’s), the author skillfully weaves a story of two Syrian girls seeking to find their place in the world. One fights against her Americanized Syrian privilege, and the other fights the memories of her war-torn country.

Readers will relate to both narrators as they struggle with guilt, family pressure, and learning how to adapt. Any reader who has had a difficult mother-daughter relationship will cheer for Khadija as she struggles to understand her mother and communicate honestly. This own-voices story helps readers understand more about the problems in Syria and the hardships of living as a refugee.

Teachers and librarians will want to include this beautiful story in their line-up of great literature by marginalized authors.