Synopses & Reviews
Bijan Majidi is:
- Shy around girls
- Really into comics
- Decent at basketball
Bijan Majidi is not:
- A terrorist
What happens when a kid who’s flown under the radar for most of high school gets pulled off the bench to make the winning basket in a varsity playoff game?
If his name is Bijan Majidi, life is suddenly high fives in the hallways and invitations to exclusive parties — along with an anonymous photo sent by a school cyberbully that makes Bijan look like a terrorist.
The administration says they’ll find and punish the culprit. Bijan wants to pretend it never happened. He’s not ashamed of his Middle Eastern heritage; he just doesn’t want to be a poster child for Islamophobia. Lots of classmates rally around Bijan. Others make it clear they don’t want him or anybody who looks like him at their school. But it’s not always easy to tell your enemies from your friends.
Here to Stay is a painfully honest, funny, authentic story about growing up, speaking out, and fighting prejudice.
Review
“The novel effortlessly tackles several important societal issues, keeping them in the foreground without detracting from the main focus: Bijan's entertaining internal color commentary that reveals his thought processes. The resulting is an engaging page-turner. Powerful.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“Islamophobia, racism, homo- and heterosexuality, toxic masculinity, offensive sports mascots, activism, friendship, immigration, school politics, gun rights, and a splash of Iranian history make this about a lot more than high-school sports.” Booklist
Review
“Farizan portrays the richness and warmth of the Persian culture of Bijan’s proud mother. A touching subplot explores the romance and high school politics of a budding lesbian relationship. Recommended for all high school collections.” School Library Journal
Synopsis
"A powerful YA novel about identity and prejudice."
--Entertainment Weekly Bijan Majidi is:
- Shy around girls
- Really into comics
- Decent at basketball
Bijan Majidi is not: What happens when a kid who's flown under the radar for most of high school gets pulled off the bench to make the winning basket in a varsity playoff game?
If his name is Bijan Majidi, life is suddenly high fives in the hallways and invitations to exclusive parties--along with an anonymous photo sent by a school cyberbully that makes Bijan look like a terrorist.
The administration says they'll find and punish the culprit. Bijan wants to pretend it never happened. He's not ashamed of his Middle Eastern heritage; he just doesn't want to be a poster child for Islamophobia. Lots of classmates rally around Bijan. Others make it clear they don't want him or
anybody who looks like him at their school. But it's not always easy to tell your enemies from your friends.
Here to Stay is a painfully honest, funny, authentic story about growing up, speaking out, and fighting prejudice.
About the Author
Sara Farizan, the daughter of Iranian immigrants, was born in Massachusetts. She is an MFA graduate of Lesley University and holds a BA in film and media studies from American University. Sara grew up feeling different in her private high school, not only because of her ethnicity, but also because of her liking girls romantically, her lack of excitement in science and math, and her love of writing plays and short stories. So she came out of the closet in college, realized math and science weren’t so bad (but were not for her), and decided she wanted to be a writer. Sara has been a Hollywood intern, a waitress, a comic book/record store employee, an art magazine blogger, a marketing temp, and an after-school teacher, but above all else she has always been a writer. Sara lives near Boston, loves Kurosawa films, eighties R&B, and graphic novels, and thinks all kids are awesome. She is the acclaimed author of If You Could Be Mine and Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel.