Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel

"In the vein of Dominicana and My Brilliant Friend, an unforgettable story about female friendship and queer love in a Pakistani-American community Razia Mirza grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friend, Saima, by her side. But when a family rift drives the girls apart, Razia's idyllic childhood is shattered forever. In middle school, Razia befriends a new girl, Taslima, and they begin to chafe at the restrictions imposed on them in their tight-knit Pakistani Muslim community. Together, they embark on a series of small rebellions: listening to scandalous American music, wearing mini skirts, and cutting school to explore the city. Then Razia is accepted to a prestigious high school in Manhattan and the gulf between the person she wants to be and the daughter her parents expect widens. There, she meets beautiful, free-spirited Angela, Razia is attracted to her in a way that first confuses her and then blossoms into new understanding. But when their relationship is discovered by an Aunty in the community, Razia must choose between her family and her own future. Punctuated by both joy and loss, full '80s music and beloved novels, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a new classic: a fiercely compassionate coming-of-age story of a girl struggling to reconcile her own heritage and faith with her desire to be true to herself"--… (more)