A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi is a young adult bildungsroman.  A year after 9/11, Shirin, a Muslim teenager who wears a scarf, has been shunted from school to school her entire life and now the victim of racism and microaggressions daily, practically hourly. She spends most of her time attempting to ignore how horrible people are, listening to music in earbuds that her hijab covers, and practicing breakdancing with her older brother.  She's cynical, angry, and a typical teenage girl.  Enter Ocean, her assigned lab partner. They have a tense relationship at first, but eventually their relationship builds into something more. 

This was definitely a memorable book in many ways. The main character's rage felt so real. She's facing all kinds of Islamophobia and hate being directed at her for absolutely nothing she's done.  Her parents are loving parents, but clueless in many ways.  She's close to her brother, but that relationship isn't perfect by any means.  I really felt like Shirin's wall of invincibility was well-earned and well-maintained, but it also created a wall between the character and the reader that was hard to get over. It was hard to get invested in a character who was not invested in anyone or anything except existence, but that was the point and it was well made.

But the romance. It just...there was already so much THERE to deal with. Islamophobia, generational differences with parents, questions of identity. And then there was this romance subplot. I'm guessing that young women everywhere swooned over this book and since they are the intended audience for this book and I'm not, maybe that's fine. But I just didn't want to have to deal with Ocean's stupid white people problems and lack of a spine. I didn't want this book to be about the problems of an interracial relationship (they exist! and we should talk about them! - but Shirin was already dealing with her own shit and I just didn't feel like this subplot added anything) and actually detracted from Shirin's real problems.  

Anyway, it's a great book! Fun to read!  I just didn't love the romantic plot. But I guess I don't have to.