Here's what people are saying about If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan (Algonquin Young Readers, $16.95 hardcover, 9781616202514, 256p., ages 14-up, August 20, 2013). The book will discussed on the BEA YA Editors Buzz panel, Thursday, May 30, 10-11 a.m., in Room 1E14/1E15; Farizan is the featured author on the panel "Journey of a Young Adult Book: From Writer to Reader" on Thursday at 11 a.m in Room 1E16. She will also appear on the Uptown Stage on Friday at 10 a.m., for "Meet the BEA YA Buzz Authors."
"A heartbreakingly beautiful story of first love. In Farizan's hands, this thoughtful story unfolds without apology or deep explanation. The reader becomes part of Sahar and Nasrin's journey. We move through it with them with our heart in our hands."
—Jacqueline Woodson, author of Beneath a Meth Moon
"A book full to bursting with aching, haunting, beautiful questions."—Chris Lynch, author of Inexcusable
"It's a story about love and the things we'll do to hold on to it, and a story about that first discovery when you start to see the world outside of your childhood. If You Could Be Mine is Sara Farizan's first novel, and it is bold. I look forward to seeing more from her in the future."—Sara Hines, Eight Cousins Bookstore, Falmouth, Mass.
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"Sara Farizan tackles a difficult and important subject in her debut novel. I defy you not to fall in love with Sahar as she deals with her sexuality in a country where such thoughts are forbidden.This book will do well with both LGBT and multicultural audiences, as well as with readers who are just looking for a great story with a strong female character."
—Suzanna Hermans, Oblong Books and Music, Millerton, N.Y.
"A fascinating, tragic love story in a culture where the social, political, and cultural rules make their romance forbidden."—Andrea Vuleta, executive director, Southern California Independent Booksellers Association
"Refreshingly and believably diverse.... A moving and elegant story."—Kirkus Reviews
photo: Mark Karlsberg/ Studio Eleven