Zara Hossain is Here - Sabina Khan (Blog Tour & Review)

Date of Reading: 19/4/2021

Author: Sabina Khan

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Rating: 4/5

(This review is part of the blog tour organised by Hear Our Voices Book Tours)

About the book:

Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them.

Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas since her family moved there for her father to work as a paediatrician. While dealing with the Islamophobia that she faces at school, Zara has to lay low, trying not to stir up any trouble and jeopardize their family's dependent visa status while they await their green card approval, which has been in process for almost nine years.

But one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. As an act of revenge against her for speaking out, Tyler and his friends vandalize Zara's house with racist graffiti, leading to a violent crime that puts Zara's entire future at risk. Now she must pay the ultimate price and choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.

From the author of the "heart-wrenching yet hopeful" (Samira Ahmed) novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali comes a timely, intimate look at what it means to be an immigrant in America today, and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate.

Review:

        I am no stranger to the works of Sabina Khan, having read 'The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali'. This one, I must say, far surpasses the former with its deft and clear portrayal of everyday reality that a Muslim immigrant faces in America. Each and every page of this novel is a testimony of the fact that how the fear that is rampant in the country destroys the sense of security of a group of people who have come to see this country as their own.

        The prank of a teenager goes out of hand (I believe, in his mind, all that racist remarks that came out of jealousy was just a prank) and destroys the lives that Zara's Pakistani family has built up in America for years. With the right connections, the victim is turned into the criminal revealing another face of a country that often assumes the position of the international police force.

        Racist theme aside, Sabina Khan also voices the prejudice and discrimination the LGBT+ community faces in their Catholic school. When they demand to assert their liberty to form their own club, the school reacts by shutting down all social clubs. And the treatment meted out to Chloe, Zara's girlfriend, adds another reminder that acceptance of your identity still remains a dream for many.

        Powerful and poignant, Sabinal Khan has created a masterpiece that exposes the harsh truths we often try to disregard. Highly recommended!

Favourite Quotes:

"... the very least that white people can do after colonizing our subcontinent for hundreds of years is appreciate our flavorful cuisine"

"I swear they think that I'm some sort of mastermind who single-handedly controls the entire Muslim ummah. It's always the same. I'm exhausted from the burden of representing almost two billion people"

"It's so easy to paint all the people you don't want to accept with the same brush. That way you can tell yourself you're just protecting your way of life and that they're the ones encroaching upon your space"

"I deserve the dignity to exist as I am. In a perfect world I would be able to do just that. But I'm not so naive that I think the world is perfect"

"How do I deal with someone who's convinced that his right to exist in this world trumps mine?"

Meet the author:

Sabina Khan is the author of  ZARA HOSSAIN IS HERE (Scholastic/ April 6, 2021) and THE LOVE & LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI (Scholastic, 2019). She is an educational consultant and a karaoke enthusiast. After living in Germany, Bangladesh, Macao, Illinois and Texas, she has finally settled down in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, with her husband, two daughters and the best puppy in the world.