AN IMPOSSIBLE THING TO SAY

A tender coming-of-age story about an Iranian American boy getting to know his grandparents, learning more about Persian culture, facing prejudice, and growing in self-knowledge.

It’s July 2001, and Omid is a rising high school sophomore in Tucson, Arizona, when Baba Joon and Maman Joon, the maternal grandparents he’s never met before, move to the U.S. from Iran. Baba Joon gives Omid a journal in which he begins to document his daily life: his crush on the new girl at his private prep school and the Shakespeare play he auditions for so he can be close to her, his experiences navigating two cultures, and the bigotry he hears about and faces in the aftermath of 9/11. Omid, whose father’s family is Muslim and mother’s family is Baha’i, tries on Shakespearean dialogue for size and reaches for words in Farsi as ways to better comprehend and express himself and his heritage, but what finally resonates most is the rap music his best friend introduces him to. Through rap, his self-awareness and confidence grow. Although slow to start, this novel in verse quickly becomes more engaging, and the first-person narration becomes more refined as the story progresses. This is a heartfelt and nuanced depiction of what it’s like to straddle different cultures and the critical need to understand oneself.

A love letter to words and their ability to not only define us, but shape who we are.