An Impossible Thing to Say

July 15, 2023
A tender coming-of-age story about an Iranian American boy getting to know his grandparents, learning more about Persian culture, facing prejudice, and growing in self-knowledge. It's July 2001, and Omid is a rising high school sophomore in Tucson, Arizona, when Baba Joon and Maman Joon, the maternal grandparents he's never met before, move to the U.S. from Iran. Baba Joon gives Omid a journal in which he begins to document his daily life: his crush on the new girl at his private prep school and the Shakespeare play he auditions for so he can be close to her, his experiences navigating two cultures, and the bigotry he hears about and faces in the aftermath of 9/11. Omid, whose father's family is Muslim and mother's family is Baha'i, tries on Shakespearean dialogue for size and reaches for words in Farsi as ways to better comprehend and express himself and his heritage, but what finally resonates most is the rap music his best friend introduces him to. Through rap, his self-awareness and confidence grow. Although slow to start, this novel in verse quickly becomes more engaging, and the first-person narration becomes more refined as the story progresses. This is a heartfelt and nuanced depiction of what it's like to straddle different cultures and the critical need to understand oneself. A love letter to words and their ability to not only define us, but shape who we are. (Verse fiction. 13-18)

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July 24, 2023
An Iranian American teenager discovers the power of the written word in Shahi’s emotionally vulnerable verse debut. In July 2001 Arizona, Omid awaits the arrival of Baba Joon and Maman Joon, his maternal grandparents who are emigrating from Iran to the U.S. and whom he’s never met. Upon their meeting, Baba Joon gives Omid a journal, hoping it may help Omid manage his tumultuous emotions. While finding the words for feelings surrounding his experiences navigating his identity, the Islamophobic bigotry he faces in the aftermath of 9/11, and his epic crush on a girl at his new prep school isn’t always easy, he discovers that writing in the journal helps him process. Inspired by a Shakespeare unit in his honors English class and the play he auditions for to get closer to his crush, Omid attempts to express himself using varying methods of writing that improve communication in everyday life. When his friend Sammy, who is Black, burns him a rap mix CD, the music unlocks a new medium through which Omid unearths his self-confidence. As Omid explores new facets of himself, his first-person narration develops into that of a self-assured protagonist whose voice leaps off the page; Shahi employs Shakespearean dialogue and original rap to kinetic effect. Ages 13–up.

September 15, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* When Omid's maternal grandparents emigrate from Iran to a new life in America, his grandfather gifts him a journal to catalog his thoughts. What follows constitutes the rest of the book: the inner thoughts of a teenage boy witnessing the tumult of teen life alongside the historical event that was the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bravely, Shahi takes pains not to reduce Omid's story into a one-issue affair. Rather, he uses his formidable talents as a poet and performer to explore the panoply of Omid's experiences: about the girl he pines for, about the secrets his grandfather has kept from their family, about the stresses of being successful Americans pulling his parents apart, about the pains of knowing his community views him with suspicion. This may have made for a chaotic narrative, but the alternating sections of verse, prose, play format, and more always perfectly fit Omid's mindset. This is a unique and thoughtful coming-of-age story that masterfully takes advantage of its unconventional narrative to reveal the truths that we all--no matter what our age--are often unable to say out loud.

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Starred review from November 1, 2023
In this verse novel set in 2001, tenth grader Omid Soltani isn't comfortable in his own skin. As the child of Iranian immigrants living in Arizona, he feels foreign at school (especially in the post-9/11 climate), but never Persian enough with his family. When his grandparents arrive from Iran and he meets them in person for the first time, he feels "frozen in Farsi" with his stilted fluency, isolated from the very people with whom he most wants a connection. He finds a welcome distraction in being cast as Bottom in the school's production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but gets the most laughs when he plays Bottom's lines in his father's accented English, mocking his own culture for a primarily white audience and underscoring why Shakespeare would create a comical, lovable character and "make him a monster" for entertainment. As Omid grows, he learns to find his voice in his own interpretation of Shakespeare and in rap music that uniquely expresses his experiences. Shahi's poetic form sometimes mirrors the subject matter (a music playlist, a theatrical dialogue, a rap flow); there are many underline-worthy lines of free verse. An unpredictable development in the conclusion may have readers reaching for a tissue (and a comforting playlist). This is a compelling coming-of-age story about finding your own voice and holding on to hope in the face of uncertainty and doubt. Julie Hakim Azzam

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 24, 2023

Gr 8 Up-Persian-American playwright and rapper Shahi's novel-in-verse explores themes of coming of age, cultural assimilation, and personal acceptance. In the homogeneity of Tucson, AZ, during the period leading up to and just after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, a multigenerational family impacted by the Iranian Revolution is trying to hold on to the threads of tradition, while finding their place in the community. Born to Muslim and Bah�'� parents, an illegal marriage in their home country, brothers Omid and Amir have grown up in an Americanized household, where Farsi was left in the past, but some aspects-Persian rugs, traditional cuisine, and a love of poetry-pervade. Omid's father, a rug dealer, weaves language like the threads of precious rugs, and younger brother Amir has inherited the gift of gab, always able to charm. Omid struggles to find his voice, despite his love of language and his achievements in AP English. When he meets Emily, a new girl at school, Omid seizes the opportunity to connect with someone he sees as a fellow outsider, and they dazzle in the theater auditions, as Omid's life plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy. Through the beloved bard, Omid discovers the strength of words and transforms himself into a poet-rapper, able to voice his fears about the confusing, conflicted, and dissonant world that surrounds him and find his footing in the family and at school. VERDICT Recommended for all collections serving teens, especially for fans of Daniel Nayeri's Everything Sad Is Untrue, Adib Khorram's Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Tahereh Mafi's A Very Large Expanse of Sea, and Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X.-Rebecca Jung

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