American Heart

November 6, 2017
In 16-year-old Sarah-Mary’s near-future America, the U.S–Mexico border is closed and Muslims are being sent to internment camps. These aren’t things Sarah-Mary thinks about much. She doesn’t know any Muslims; she and her younger brother, Caleb, are stuck living with their strict aunt; and she hates her suffocating Baptist high school. Then Caleb insists that she help a Muslim woman get to safety in Canada, and her journey with “Chloe” begins. In her YA debut, Moriarty (The Chaperone) incorporates several familiar road trip themes as the two hitchhike north, but the real story is Sarah-Mary’s awakening to her own prejudices and intolerance. Sarah-Mary is resourceful and good at thinking on her feet, constantly checking her moral compass against what she’s been told; smart, exhausted Sadaf (aka Chloe), an engineer whose biggest mistake was loving the U.S. too much to leave, worries about herself, her family, and the dangerous situation she’s putting Sarah-Mary in. A string of coincidences in the final chapters are a letdown, but Moriarty’s novel remains an effective tale of dawning awareness and the risks and rewards of following one’s conscience. Ages 13–up. Agent: Margaret Riley King, William Morris Endeavor.

November 15, 2017
Fifteen-year-old Sarah Mary will do anything for her sensitive younger brother, but she never thought that would mean running from the law.The setting is the Midwestern United States; the time is the not-too-distant future. A Muslim registry is in effect, and Muslims are being bused to detention centers called "safety zones" en masse. This doesn't bother Sarah Mary, a strong-minded, fiercely loyal, and protective teenager whose mother has abandoned her and Caleb to their ultraconservative Christian aunt. Her indifference is forced to change when Caleb's compassion for a Muslim in hiding gets her involved in a plan to help this Iranian woman escape. Together, Sarah Mary and her new companion face extreme dangers, prejudices, disappointments--and unexpected kindnesses from their fellow Americans as they fight nearly impossible odds to get her through several states and over the border undetected. Moriarty creates a frighteningly believable setting of fear and violent nativism gone awry as she traces their journey to help Sadaf find the freedom she sought when she immigrated to the United States. Sarah Mary's ignorance is an effective worldbuilding device, but it is problematic that Sadaf is seen only through the white protagonist's filter. Still, some will find value in the emotionally intense exploration of extremist "patriotic" ideology, the dangers of brainwashing and blind spots, and some of the components of our nation's social fabric that threaten to destroy us, such as segregation, greed, mistrust, and mob mentalities.A thought-provoking, chilling read with a controversial premise. (Fiction. 13-18) (Ed. Note: The review of American Heart has been edited for clarity and to provide additional insights from the reviewer from its original appearance on kirkus.com, which was removed from the site with this statement.)

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December 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-In a near-future that harkens back to the Japanese internment during World War II, "Get 'Em Outta Here" is a T-shirt slogan, and Muslims are required to live in "security zones," aka detention centers, supposedly for their own safety. Sarah-Mary, who lives with her religious aunt in rural Missouri, hasn't given much thought to the containment rules until her little brother is aided by an Iranian woman. Sarah-Mary agrees to help the woman make her way to the Canadian border and they concoct a story about Sarah-Mary's Portuguese aunt, who speaks no English. Hitchhiking is cold and dangerous, despite their sign: "Needing Ride... Help a Sister Out!" Adding complications is the large reward for Sadaf Behzadi's apprehension. As they travel, Sarah-Mary comes to realize that Sadaf (who taught electrical engineering in college, before the political changes) is not threatening, although she does need to find the proper direction in hotel rooms, to kneel for her prayers. The story centers on the logistics of the road trip, with little depth to Sadaf and Muslim culture. For more nuanced insights, consider Omar Saif Ghobash's Letters to a Young Muslim, a nonfiction book written for adults but accessible to teens, or Gretchen Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel comics, starring a Pakistani American teenage Muslim superhero. VERDICT For large library collections only.-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

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