Book Description
for Here to Stay by Sara Farizan
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A junior at an elite private high school, Bijan Majidi finds himself thrown into the midst of controversy when a photograph showing his head Photoshopped onto a rifle-toting jihadist is distributed via anonymous email to the entire school community. Bijan suspects the photo was sent by one of his basketball teammates, Drew, who is jealous that Bijan is an outstanding varsity player. Bijan wonders if he was also targeted because he recently joined a group of student activists petitioning to change the school mascot—the Gunners—to something less violent, although he was motivated less by a desire for change than by his crush on Elle, one of the student organizers. He also joined to support his friend Stephanie, who is single-minded in her devotion to a cause and largely resented by the student body. Bijan’s well-drawn character, believable experiences, and raw emotional responses as he navigates the Islamophobia directed at him and works to support others experiencing homophobia and other forms of harassment solidly ground this novel. (Age 13 and older)
CCBC Choices 2019. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2019. Used with permission.