All My Rage

YA fiction 

     "It doesn't make any sense.  The weight of today, of yesterday, is too much.  I want a different life.  One where my worries are things like math class.  High school sports.  A life where college is just a stop on the journey, instead of a lifeline."

     Salhudin and Noor are Pakistani Americans growing up in small town California.  They met in first grade, bonding with each other in a way they couldn't with their classmates.  By high school they are family...

     ...And in their senior year in Juniper High both are in terrible situations.

     Noor was rescued by her uncle when she was trapped and her parents and grandparents were killed in an earthquake.  In America Chachu, the uncle, is a bitter, abusive man.  He runs a liquor store and feels that it is way beneath the status in life he deserves.  She's applied to seven colleges, hoping to escape through academia.  He is expecting her to take over the day shift at the liquor store so he can advance himself.  

     Before Saluhudin (Sal) was born his parents had bought a small motel and named it Clouds Rest Inn. His mother, Misbah, put her heart and soul into it.  His father became an alcoholic, unable to really help run the place.  It's been going steadily downhill.

     After Misbah dies of an untreated although treatable illness and his father is unable to cope Sal learns how much in debt his family is.  The motel will be seized if he doesn't come up with over $5,000 quickly.  He can't let that happen.  It is the dream his mother devoted her life to.  

     When a high school student needs money and can't get it from a reliable source a criminal element may step in.  Sal is only going to sell drugs until he's cleared his family's debts and secured Cloud's Rest...

     ...But that desperate decision may doom his and Noor's futures.

     If any book proves that most of the best fiction of the 21st century is targeted to the YA audience this is it.  The characters are complex and nuanced.  Gratuitous sex and violence are blessedly absent.  Difficult situations are handled with dignity and sensitivity rather than skipped over or over dramatized.

     All My Rage is a poignant and powerful read for it's target demographics and well beyond.

     But you don't have to take my word for it.  Jodi Picoult, one of the very few writers of adult adult literature who never lets me down, has this to say about it:

     "All My Rage is a gorgeous, star-crossed story about the costs of the American Dream and the way unexpected routes appear when you need them most.  I read this in a single day."

On a purrrsonal note, my 33rd wedding anniversary was July 29, the last day of my internship.  We celebrated it the next day with breakfast at Denny's and a weekend at camp.  I hope we have a lot more years together to celebrate.  (Jules)

I do too!!!  They are my family.  ( Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

     

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