Life was easier when she had Salahudin and his kind mother, Misbah, in her life, but a fight has left her unable to forgive him, at least for now. Orphaned Noor’s dreams of college are slowly waning her malicious Pakistani immigrant uncle, who hates all things Pakistani, has made it clear that Noor’s future involves working behind the counter of his liquor store. But instead of worrying about college and his future career prospects, Salahudin is preoccupied with his mother’s kidney failure, his father’s alcoholism, his family’s deteriorating motel, and Noor, who hasn’t spoken to him in months. With pervasive racism coming from everyone from classmates to police officers and doctors, Juniper is a sinkhole that the estranged best friends are desperate to leave. Seniors Salahudin and Noor, both 18, are caught in the throes of life in the small California desert town of Juniper, where being a working-class person of color means being treated differently. Aideen and Meabh are both lesbian, and while Aideen mentions experiencing some homophobia in the past, it is not the focus of the story ethnic diversity is similarly part of the background texture.Ī noteworthy take on vulnerability and seeking help that doesn’t offer platitudes. The language used is very Irish, featuring sentence structures and colloquialisms that set the cultural scene in a completely natural way. A spark of emotional authenticity runs throughout, making the narrative engaging and enjoyable. Aideen begins somewhat rough at the edges and soon becomes a character readers can easily root for: Between her mother’s drinking problem and her own failing grades, Aideen deals with issues faced by many young people. Smyth paints a snapshot of someone who appears to have everything sorted but on the inside is falling apart at the seams. She silently struggles with her own home life while solving the issues of others to cope with her feelings of helplessness. Aided by Kavi Thakrar, a witness to Aideen’s pushing Meabh down the stairs-part of their harebrained scheme-Aideen soon finds herself running a favor-for-favor business for the student body.
Sixteen-year-old Irish student Aideen Cleary faces some big obstacles.Īfter walking in on perfectionist classmate Meabh Kowalska, daughter of the school principal, crying in the toilets, Aideen gets roped into a drastic plan to help her fix her problems.
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