Leena’s father, a leader during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in Saudi Arabia, is imprisoned. Mishie’s father works for the government. The two young women have been best friends for years, Leena always willing to support Mishie’s small rebellions against strict rules for female behavior. But Leena’s future is compromised by her father’s imprisonment, her family economic situation, and strict Saudi laws. When she meets Ahmed, an admirer of her father, she believes he and his friends may be planning to get him out of prison. She wonders if she’s falling in love with this young man who takes her out into the desert at night and teaches her to drive. Leena risks not just arrest but friendship in order to spend time with Ahmed, knowing Mishie likes him, too. When it all comes crashing down—her friendship with Mishie, her trust in Ahmed, her hope for the future—Leena begins studying with her father’s law partner, Hussein. She reaches out to other girls and devises a radical plan to use the restrictive laws to their advantage. Many finely drawn characters reveal a range of political and religious viewpoints as a young woman and her friends draw on their intelligence and courage to change the course of their lives in a novel that takes an astonishing, liberating turn. (Age 12 and older)

In this debut YA friendship story set in Saudi Arabia, two girls navigate typical teen issues—crushes, college, family expectations, future hopes, and dreams.

Sixteen-year-olds Leena and Mishie are best friends. They delight in small rebellions against the Saudi cultural police—secret Western clothing, forbidden music, flirtations. But Leena wants college, independence—she wants a different life. Though her story is specific to her world (a world where it's illegal for women to drive, where a ten-year-old boy is the natural choice as guardian of a fatherless woman), ultimately it's a story about friendship, family, and freedom that transcends cultural differences.

- GODWIN BOOKS -