Zara Hossain is Here is a timely and intimate novel about what it means to be an immigrant in America today and the endurance of hope and faith in the face of hate. Now she must choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home and losing the life she loves and everyone in it. As an act of revenge, Tyler and his friends vandalize the Hossains' house with Islamophobic graffiti, which leads to a violent crime that puts Zara and her family's entire future at risk. Being the only Muslim girl at her conservative Catholic school, blending in isn't really an option, especially with people like Tyler Benson always tormenting her.īut one day Tyler takes things too far by defacing Zara's locker with a racist message, which gets him suspended.

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.įrom 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.Ever since her family moved to Texas from Pakistan when she was a baby, seventeen-year-old Zara Hossain has only ever called Corpus Christi home. 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.

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.īut one day her tormentor, star football player Tyler Benson, takes things too far, leaving a threatening note in her locker, and gets suspended. 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 pediatrician. But it only takes one moment for that dream to come crashing down around them. Zara's family has waited years for their visa process to be finalized so that they can officially become US citizens.

Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan