Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel

Starred review from August 18, 2014
With self-deprecating wit (“Now I have all the proof I need that my entire life is a sitcom designed by God for His personal enjoyment”) and a keen eye for interpersonal dynamics, Iranian-American narrator Leila Azadi details the dramas taking place in the intersecting circles of her elite New England private school and high-achieving Persian community. When a family friend comes out, his parents’ obnoxious bragging turns to silence (“it’s like Kayvon never existed”), causing Leila to fear being disowned for her “lady-loving inclinations.” An unanticipated crush on stunning, enigmatic new student Saskia compels Leila to explore unfamiliar terrain emotionally and socially. For better and worse, Leila learns that people are not always what they seem: the theater tech girls “who are for sure gay” are straight, and Saskia, Leila’s family, and her childhood best friend Lisa are full of surprises. Farizan exceeds the high expectations she set with her debut, If You Could Be Mine, in this fresh, humorous, and poignant exploration of friendship and love, a welcome addition to the coming-out/coming-of-age genre. Ages 14–up. Agent: Leigh Feldman, Writers House.

December 22, 2014
Leila is a high school junior who enjoys video games and hanging out with her friends. She is not enamored of schoolwork or keeping up with her older sister’s accomplishments. Leila’s family is Persian, conservative, and strict, and her parents expect big things from their daughters. While her older sister is pre-med at Harvard, Leila is just getting by at her private high school. She’s flying below the radar for safety’s sake: Leila is just figuring out that she likes girls. She knows this will make her stand out even more at her mostly WASP-y school, and she cannot begin to imagine how her parents will react. But when Saskia, a gorgeous new student shows some interest in Leila, the latter grapples with her fears and feelings. Farsad’s Persian accents are impeccable. She trills as Leila’s mother and lowers her voice believably for her father. She gives Leila a delightful crinkly voice, perfect for the wry humor and self-deprecation of the character. Leila’s older sister and her frenemies get nuanced cattiness, and she voices young men with a slightly nasal tone. But the audio production distracts from the story, as all the talent and skill Farsad shows in voicing characters gets lost when listeners are pulled out of the audio experience by loud breathing and mouth noises. Ages 14–up. An Algonquin Young Readers hardcover.

November 1, 2014
Sixteen-year-old Iranian American Leila Azadi is, in her own words, a "Persian scaredy-cat." Afraid to tell her best friends and her conservative family that she is gay, Leila finds herself in a secret relationship with Saskia, a gorgeous, sophisticated new girl with a decidedly wicked side. As Saskia reveals herself to be a master manipulator, Leila turns to an unexpected ally, Lisa, an old friend who recently lost her brother in a car accident. When Lisa and Leila's friendship turns romantic, a spurned Saskia threatens the couple as well as their friends, who rally in support of the girls. The humor and cleverness of Leila's first-person narrative lightens what, in less capable hands, could be an angsty story, while well-drawn secondary characters balance the novel's more extremely rendered villain. While Leila's coming-out process provides narrative tension, this is not a problem novel. Instead, Farizan's second book (If You Could Be Mine, rev. 11/13) is more of a David Levithan-style romance in which a character's sexual identity is neither problematic nor in question, and coming out is just one of many obstacles affecting the course of true love. amy pattee

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)