ALL MY RAGE by Sabaa Tahir

ALL MY RAGE is a contemporary YA novel that is a National Book Award finalist and the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe Horn Book Award. It was written by Sabaa Tahir, a Pakistani American best known for her NYT best seller An Ember in the Ashes. 

ALL MY RAGE follows the lives of Sal and Noor, both outcasts and immigrants in the small desert town of Juniper, California. At the start, they are as close as family and miles apart. Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother’s health fails and his father struggles to grieve. Noor walks a tightrope working in her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding her college applications as she tries to escape him.

This novel doesn't pull punches. Each character makes bad decisions, hides, and puts themselves and others in harm’s way. But by walking alongside them and seeing what they endure, I watched in awe as they learned to support, care and protect each other, and despite the odds, knit themselves back together. This is a beautiful story of heartbreak and hope, and a swift read that lingers long after the back cover closes.

- Recommended by Tess