Publisher/Year: Simon & Schuster, 2005
Synopsis: The year is 1991. When Jasira's mother finds out what has been going on between her boyfriend and her thirteen-year-old daughter, she has to make a choice -- and chooses to send Jasira off to Houston Texas, to live with her father. A remote disciplinarian prone to explosive rages, Jasira's father is unable to show his daughter the love she craves -- and far less able to handle her feelings about her changing body.
Bewildered by extremes of parental scrutiny and neglect, Jasira begins to look elsewhere for affection. Saddam Hussein has invaded Kuwait, and high school has become a lonely place for a "towelhead." When her father meets, and forbids her to see, her boyfriend, it becomes lonelier still. But there is always Mr. Vuoso -- a neighboring army reservist whose son Jasira babysits. Mr. Vuoso, as Jasira discovers, has an extensive collection of Playboy magazines. And he doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with Jasira's body at all.
What Others Have To Say:
The New York Times
"[Erian's] gift for conjuring characters is so strong; she has a sophisticated take on people, and charts with real precision how and why the human comedy becomes seriously unfunny."
The New York Times (2)
"The true coming of age here involves not the loss of Jasira's virginity (which becomes a hopelessly confused point of contention among the story's men) but the birth of her assertiveness and self-esteem."
Bookpage.com
"It is a tale simply told, in straightforward language, about age-old truths that are anything but simple."
Extras:
Read an interview with the author.
View the trailer for the film adaptation.
Read Chapter 1 online.
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