The Sky at Our Feet - Hardcover

Hashimi, Nadia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006242193X ISBN 13: 9780062421937

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2018

Synopsis

This #ownvoices novel by bestselling author Nadia Hashimi tells the affecting story of an Afghan-American boy who believes his mother has been deported. For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Counting by 7s.

Jason has just learned that his Afghan mother has been living illegally in the United States since his father was killed in Afghanistan. Although Jason was born in the US, it’s hard to feel American now when he’s terrified that his mother will be discovered—and that they will be separated.

When he sees his mother being escorted from her workplace by two officers, Jason feels completely alone. He boards a train with the hope of finding his aunt in New York City, but as soon as he arrives in Penn Station, the bustling city makes him wonder if he’s overestimated what he can do.

After an accident lands him in the hospital, Jason finds an unlikely ally in a fellow patient. Max, a whip-smart girl who wants nothing more than to explore the world on her own terms, joins Jason in planning a daring escape out of the hospital and into the skyscraper jungle—even though they both know that no matter how big New York City is, they won’t be able to run forever.

About this title

About the Author

Nadia Hashimi was born and raised in New York and New Jersey. Both her parents were born in Afghanistan and left in the early 1970s, before the Soviet invasion. In 2002, Nadia made her first trip to Afghanistan with her parents. She is a pediatrician and lives with her family in the Washington, DC, suburbs. She is the author of three books for adults, as well as the middle grade novels One Half from the East and The Sky at Our Feet. Visit her online at www.nadiahashimi.com.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—Twelve-year-old Jason D. Riazi is on the run from his New Jersey home after his mother, an undocumented Afghani immigrant, is apprehended by police. Hoping to find his Auntie Seema in New York City, he takes the train to Penn Station, but, fainting from hunger on the platform and suffering a concussion, he lands in the hospital where he fakes amnesia to keep his identity secret. Befriended by a young female patient, Max, who claims her superior brain is being studied, the two escape into the city streets only to be caught up in the throng of the New York Marathon. When Max collapses in an epileptic seizure, Jason must continue alone on his quest for safety. The familiar trope of two adolescents escaping from a hospital to pursue an adventure is enhanced by the timely theme of American identity amid the immigrant experience and is nicely textured with details of the New York cityscape. The narrative is peppered with riddles Jason has learned from his mother, and his questioning of his "Americanness" and Max's rebellion against her parents' overprotectiveness will resonate with readers. The story is fast-paced and engaging with sympathetic protagonists who raise thought-provoking contemporary issues. VERDICT An absorbing read and a good choice for discussion.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 006242193X
• ISBN 13: 9780062421937
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 304