Sonora (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781616957926)

2018 NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION'S 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE

A fevered, lyrical debut about two young women drawn into an ever-intensifying friendship set against the stark, haunted landscape of the Sonoran desert and the ecstatic frenzy of New York City.

Ahlam, the daughter of a Palestinian refugee and his Israeli wife, grows up in the arid lands of desert suburbia outside of Phoenix. In a stark landscape where coyotes prowl and mysterious lights occasionally pass through the nighttime sky, Ahlam's imagination reigns. She battles chronic fever dreams and isolation. When she meets her tempestuous counterpart Laura, the two fall into infatuated partnership, experimenting with drugs and sex and boys, and watching helplessly as a series of mysterious deaths claim high school classmates.

The girls flee their pasts for New York City, but as their emotional bond heightens, the intensity of their lives becomes unbearable. In search of love, ecstasy, oblivion, and belonging, Ahlam and Laura's drive to outrun the ghosts of home threatens to undo them altogether.

Author: Hannah Lillith Assadi
ISBN-10: 1616957921
ISBN-13: 9781616957926
Publisher: Soho Press
Language: English
Published: 03/28/2017
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 01/01/2017 pg. 37
Publishers Weekly 01/16/2017
Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2017
Library Journal 04/15/2017 pg. 71
Shelf Awareness 04/21/2017