Here to Stay
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. Iranian-Jordianian American 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. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Activism and Resistance
Anger
Iranians and Iranian Americans
Islamophobia
Jordanians and Jordanian Americans
Sports
Diversity subjects:
Arab
Asian
Middle East
Muslim
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Publisher:
Algonquin
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 265
ISBN: 9781616207007
CCBC Location: Fiction, Farizan