All My Rage

What a masterfully written book! So many beautiful thoughts, expressed in beautiful sentences, to tell an honest, and by turns heart-breaking and heart-mending story. This is my first reading of a book by [a:Sabaa Tahir 7770873 Sabaa Tahir https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1637102794p2/7770873.jpg] and what a work of art. I can't wait to read something else by her. I saw that she was raised in a motel in the desert which explains the depth of her knowledge on the topic. I was right there with her.The book is so chocked full of rich, full characters that I struggled to identify whose was the protagonist. I went back and forth between Misbah, the mother, Salahudin her son, and Noor, a fellow Palestinian immigrant and Salahudin's best friend. In the end, I guess I would have to say the main character is Misbah because she begins and ends the story, the benchmark my writing teacher told me to use. However, Salahudin's story seemed almost more compelling because we see his struggles immediately throughout the book while Noor hides hers—for good reason. However, I think the author's voice sounded most grounded in Noor. The book wouldn't let me put it down. It gave great insight into the discrimination faced by immigrants in high school, and really in general, who live in a backwater towns—and front-water towns too. I learned much about the Muslim faith and really enjoyed the sayings and wisdom of Misbah.The beautiful language in general, filtered through a foreigners' ear, was captivating:- “The sky over Lahore was purple as a gossip's tongue the day my mother told me I would wed. . .”- “If we are lost, God is like water, finding the unknowable path when we cannot.”- “She is jealous. She wishes to be the biggest fish in a small pond. It bothers her that you wish to find a bigger pond.”It's a book I'd love to read again for the first time.