THE BLUE DRESS

A young teen navigates social pressures and a complicated relationship with her mother.

Since puberty, creative 13-year-old chess player Yasmin Safavi’s body has changed in disorienting ways. A year ago, her family moved from Iran to Ashbury Falls, Virginia, where she met her bestie, fellow new kid and Mexican immigrant Carmen Aguilar, and developed a crush on the cowboy boot–wearing Jack Westbrook. Yasmin’s mom wants her to lose weight to fit into the beautiful blue dress she’s making her for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Maman deliberately made it too small—and she increases the pressure when Yasmin instead grows heavier. Yasmin tries skipping dinner, and after bingeing on what her mom labels “bad foods,” she makes herself throw up, leaving her feeling “ugly, broken, sad.” Longing to fit in with the popular girls and be noticed by Jack, she straightens her curly hair, plucks her thick eyebrows, and drifts away from Carmen. Yasmin also experiences racist bullying and confronts questions of identity, friendship, and self-respect. Along the way, a difficult but loving relationship with her mother evolves. Debut author Morrison, who emigrated from Iran as a teen, honestly examines disordered eating resulting from peer and familial pressures in graphic detail, pulling from her own relationships with her mother and body image. She also thoughtfully develops Yasmin’s and Carmen’s backgrounds, cultivating an understanding of each girl’s immigration experiences.

A raw and vulnerable exploration of widely relevant and resonant themes.