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In the Country I Love - by  Alaa Al-Barkawi (Hardcover) - 1 of 1

In the Country I Love - by Alaa Al-Barkawi (Hardcover)

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Highlights

  • Two Iraqi American best friends--a struggling teen father and the community's golden boy--confront dark truths about their families in the wake of a devastating crime in this heartrending YA debut.
  • 368 Pages
  • Young Adult Fiction, Social Themes

Description



Book Synopsis



Two Iraqi American best friends--a struggling teen father and the community's golden boy--confront dark truths about their families in the wake of a devastating crime in this heartrending YA debut.

As a seventeen-year-old single dad and a soon-to-be high school drop-out, Yassir Al-Azzawi's lapsed Shia faith is just another thing convincing his parents he's a failure. One more mistake, and they'll send him back to their homeland, a war-torn Iraq.

Khaled Al-Hakim is perfect on paper: devout in his faith, a straight-A student, and captain of the debate team. But beneath the surface, Khaled is no saint either, and his worst sin yet is ignoring his parents' command to stay away from Yassir.

When their secret friendship is exposed, the consequences set off a series of events that cause family secrets from both sides to come to light, and neither Yassir nor Khaled are prepared to learn the stains that taint their family names.

Told through multiple POVs across time, this authentic exploration of the Shia Muslim experience in the U.S. seamlessly combines classic YA themes of identity, coming-of-age, and relationships with timely social themes of racism, Islamophobia, and justice. This compelling, contemporary debut is perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage and Markus Zusak's The Book Thief.



About the Author



Alaa Al-Barkawi is a first-generation, Iraqi American Shia Muslim writer. She is the co-runner of QuillersSWANA, a literary organization dedicated to Southwest Asian and North African writers, and serves as a Literary Peace Ambassador for Threads of Peace. Alaa holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University and has worked with refugee and immigrant students for nearly a decade. In the Country I Love is her debut novel. Visit her website at AlaaWrites.com and follow her on Instagram @AlaaAlBarkawi.
Dimensions (Overall): 8.0 Inches (H) x 5.25 Inches (W)
Weight: 1.25 Pounds
Suggested Age: 14 Years
Number of Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Sub-Genre: Social Themes
Publisher: Peachtree Teen
Theme: Prejudice & Racism
Format: Hardcover
Author: Alaa Al-Barkawi
Language: English
Street Date: May 26, 2026
TCIN: 1005927837
UPC: 9781682638101
Item Number (DPCI): 247-49-5011
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
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Shipping details

Estimated ship dimensions: 1 inches length x 5.25 inches width x 8 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.25 pounds
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