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An account of the author's transition from being an Afghan refugee to becoming a devout Muslim and resistance fighter struggling against the Soviet occupation in the late 1980s and eventually a Harvard University student as he found a path away from extremism.

Told in two voices Mati, a devout Muslim from Afghanistan, and Elise, a seventeen-year-old whose brother was killed there, try to keep their budding romance secret from their families.

Izzy struggles with her parents' separation, starting middle school, and more, but especially the effect her friendship with her Muslim neighbor, Sitara, has on her best friends, Zelda and Piper.