By Saadia Faruqi
New York: Quill Tree Books, 2025. Fiction. 370 pages.
13-year-old Mohammed Mirza, called Mo, has a lot of practice acting like he doesn't care. It's easier than admitting that he's bothered by the hard things in his life. Like his scientist mother who left her family behind to work in a refugee camp in Greece. Or his father who struggles with untreated paranoid schizophrenia. Or Abba and Mo's recent move from New York City to Houston, Texas to live with Abba's widowed sister and her 13-year-old son Rayyan -- who is still processing his grief and trauma after the murder of his father. Mo finds escape and comfort in South Asian folktales, boxing, and art. As Mo starts to spend more time with caring adults who take an interest in him, he starts to open up and let people in -- everyone except for his monstrous Abbu.
This character driven novel is layered and complex and, understandably, emotional. The portrayal of a parent with a serious mental illness, and of a child trying to make sense of that illness, is realistic and compelling. Readers will easily sympathize with Mo and his fears that he may "carry the schizophrenia gene". In general, readers will find a lot to like in Mo - who leverages his reputation as a bad boy to defend his cousin from bullies, teaches art to the younger children at his mosque, and, of course, studies folktales to glean truths about the world. This book is on the longer end for a realistic fiction book, but the multiple layers of character development keep it from feeling slow. We're in the middle of the year, but this book is already receiving a lot of well-earned award buzz.
Comments