Love, Hate and Other Filters

In this unforgettable debut, a Muslim teen copes with Islamophobia, cultural divides among peers and parents, and a reality she can neither explain nor escape. American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There's the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daugher: attending a college close to their suurban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems "suitable." And then there is the world of her dreamss: going to film school and living in New York City - and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she's known from afar since grade school, a boy who's finally falling into her orbit at school. There's also the real world, beyond Maya's control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she's known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates alike are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs. -- From dust jacket.