Home Is Not a Country

ISBN: 0593177053

Author: Elhillo, Safia

Condition: New

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDNothing short of magic. -Elizabeth Acevedo, New York Times bestselling author of The Poet XFrom the acclaimed poet featured on Forbes Africas 30 Under 30 list, this powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home.my mother meant to name me for her favorite flowerits sweetness garlands made for pretty girlsi imagine her yasmeen bright & alive& i ache to have been born her insteadNima wishes she were someone else. She doesnt feel understood by her mother, who grew up in a different land. She doesnt feel accepted in her suburban town; yet somehow, she isn't different enough to belong elsewhere. Her best friend, Haitham, is the only person with whom she can truly be herself. Until she can't, and suddenly her only refuge is gone.As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen-the name her parents meant to give her at birth-Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might be more real than Nima knows. And the life Nima wishes were someone else's. . . is one she will need to fight for with a fierceness she never knew she possessed.