Status
Book Bag 22
Publication
Razorbill (2022), 384 pages
Library's review
Seniors Salahudin and Noor, both 18, are caught in the throes of life in the small California desert town of Juniper, where being a working-class person of color means being treated differently.
With pervasive racism coming from everyone from classmates to police officers and doctors, Juniper is a
Takes readers on an unforgettable emotional journey. (Fiction. 14-18)
-Kirkus Review
With pervasive racism coming from everyone from classmates to police officers and doctors, Juniper is a
Show More
sinkhole that the estranged best friends are desperate to leave. But instead of worrying about college and his future career prospects, Salahudin is preoccupied with his mother’s kidney failure, his father’s alcoholism, his family’s deteriorating motel, and Noor, who hasn’t spoken to him in months. Orphaned Noor’s dreams of college are slowly waning; her malicious Pakistani immigrant uncle, who hates all things Pakistani, has made it clear that Noor’s future involves working behind the counter of his liquor store. Life was easier when she had Salahudin and his kind mother, Misbah, in her life, but a fight has left her unable to forgive him, at least for now. Chapters alternate between Noor’s and Salahudin’s perspectives, with snippets of Misbah’s past sprinkled throughout. This novel confronts head on the complicated realities of life in a world that is not designed for the oppressed to thrive in. Tahir brilliantly shows how interconnected societal forces shape communities and people’s lives through the accumulated impact of circumstances beyond their control: Substance abuse, debt, racism, trauma, and poverty are intricately woven together to tell a deeply moving, intergenerational story.Takes readers on an unforgettable emotional journey. (Fiction. 14-18)
-Kirkus Review
Show Less
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Young People's Literature — 2022)
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (Winner — Fiction & Poetry — 2022)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2024)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2024)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2024)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Nominee — 2024)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Thumbs Up! Award (Top Ten — 2023)
Lincoln Award: Illinois Teen Readers' Choice Award (Nominee — 2024)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Almost Made It — 2024)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Recommended — 2024)
Arkansas Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Florida Teens Read Award (Nominee — 2024)
The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — 2024)
NCSLMA Battle of the Books (High School — 2024)
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award (Finalist — 2023)
Virginia Readers' Choice (Nominee — High School — 2024)
Printz Award (Winner — 2023)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2024)
Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2023)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2024)
Iowa High School Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
South Asia Book Award (Highly Commended — Older Readers — 2023)
The White Ravens (2023)
Keystone to Reading Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers (Nominee — 2024)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Three Stars Book Award (Nominee — High School — 2024)
North Star YA Award (Nominee — 2024)
Yellowhammer Book Awards (Top Ten — Young Adult — 2023)
Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature (Honor — Teen — 2023)
NPR: Books We Love (2022)
All Connecticut Reads (Shortlist — Teens — 2023)
Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl (High School — 2024)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2023)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (High School — 2023)
Nerdy Book Award (Middle Grade Fiction — 2022)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Teen — 2022)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Teens (Fiction — 2022)
Teacher Favorites Award (2023)
Idaho Battle of the Books (High School — 2024)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Teens (Top Ten — Fiction — 2022)
Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults (Top Ten — 2023)
Reading Olympics (High School — 2024)
Project LIT Book Selection (Young Adult — 2024)
OYAN Book Rave (2023)
Great Books for Kids (2022)
Librarian Favorites Award (2023)
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
0593202341 / 9780593202340