Valerie O. Patterson (Children's Literature)
Living in New York City after having arrived in the United States from Bangladesh years ago, Nadira and her older sister, Aisha, and their parents find themselves caught up in the US government crackdown on illegal aliens in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Living on expired tourist visas, the family tries to flee to Canada. Stopped at the border, Nadira's father is detained and her mother stays to be near him, while Nadira and her sister are sent back to New York City. There they try to carry on their lives as normally as possible. Aisha, an excellent student who is in line to be valedictorian and attend a prestigious US university, becomes despondent, as realization dawns about what the family's illegal status will mean for college entry. Nadira, previously in her sister's shadow, finds inner strength and ends up helping their father win his freedom and clear suspicion of ties to illegal fundraising, the family obtain legal status, and bolster her sister's courage to take the stage at high school graduation. Inspiring and timely, this novel explores one of the most difficult issues facing the United States today in a compelling and highly readable way. 2006, Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster, $16.95. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 24))
Illegal immigrant sisters learn a lot about themselves when their family faces deportation in this compelling contemporary drama. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Nadira, her older sister Aisha and their parents live in New York City with expired visas. Fourteen-year-old Nadira describes herself as "the slow-wit second-born" who follows Aisha, the family star who's on track for class valedictorian and a top-rate college. Everything changes when post-9/11 government crack-downs on Muslim immigrants push the family to seek asylum in Canada where they are turned away at the border and their father is arrested by U.S. immigration. The sisters return to New York living in constant fear of detection and trying to pretend everything is normal. As months pass, Aisha falls apart while Nadira uses her head in "a right way" to save her father and her family. Nadira's need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family's desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek into the lives of foreigners on the fringe. (endnote) 2006, Ginee Seo Books/Atheneum, 176p, $16.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 14. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, January 2006 (Vol. 40, No. 1))
There are thousands of illegal residents in the US, and those from Muslim countries have been targeted since 9/11. Budhos, who has written before about immigrant teenagers, here creates fully realized characters to help us understand the complexities of the immigration system. Nadira and Aisha are teenage sisters whose parents came from Bangladesh and stayed on in NYC with expired visas. The girls are successful high school students who know little of Bangladesh. After 9/11 the authorities are circling in to deport those who are in the US illegally, especially those from Muslim countries. In a panic, the girls' father decides to drive the family across the border to Canada, where they will seek asylum. But when they get there, Canada refuses to accept them because so many others are swamping the Canadian refugee system, and when the family turns around at the US border, the father is arrested and taken into custody. The girls leave their parents in New England, where the father is incarcerated, and return to NYC to relatives to try to continue their schooling and hope for the best. Aisha is the older sister, the academic success, the one most assimilated--yet as the pressures mount, she is the one who falls into a depression and is lost in hopelessness. Nadira rises to the occasion, pushing forward with the immigration lawyer, discovering discrepancies in the government's case against her father, pleading with the judge, never giving up. This is a powerful story, especially for those YAs who know something themselves about the immigration situation. Budhos doesn't make heroes of the illegal immigrants, but she illuminates the reasons why families stay here, and she focuses on the children who have grown up in America but who are threatened with deportation because of the mistakes of their parents. She certainly is critical of the Patriot Act and its repercussions on immigrant families and especially Muslim families. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2006, Simon & Schuster, Atheneum, 162p., $16.95. Ages 12 to 18.

Rosemary Knapp (Library Media Connection, August/September 2006)
Fiction and nonfiction have been written in response to the incidents of Sept. 11, 2001. Few, however, are from the viewpoint of immigrant teens affected by the aftermath of the attacks. This is the story of a family of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, who have been living for several years in New York City on expired visas. After September 11th, knowing their status is sure to get them deported, they flee to Canada seeking asylum. In first-person narrative, Nadira, 14, describes how she and her older sister return to the city when their father is detained at the border and imprisoned. The girls are admonished to keep their family situation secret. Nadira is envious of her sister, but when Aisha begins to break down from the strain of the secrecy and seeming hopelessness of the situation, Nadira realizes she must step up to hold the family together. Nadira's conflicted feelings, Aisha's meltdown, and the dynamics of the Muslim community as it faces the suspicions and bureaucracy of the immigration system are movingly conveyed through the narrator's voice. This book is a well-written and needed counterpoint in the body of September 11th literature. Many innocent, hard-working immigrants have experienced prejudice and fear, and this novel does an excellent job of telling their story. Highly Recommended. 2006, Atheneum (Simon & Schuster), 176pp., $16.95 hc. Ages 12 to 18.

Hope Morrison (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2006 (Vol. 59, No. 7))
Fourteen-year-old Nadira’s family has been living illegally in the United States since she was seven; they, like many others, came on tourist visas from Bangladesh and never left. In the post-9/11 world, however, a new law requiring Muslim men to register with the government has led her family to journey to the Canadian border and plead for asylum. They are denied and, upon returning to the U.S. border crossing, her father is arrested and imprisoned. Budhos’ novel follows Nadira and her sister Aisha, who return to New York City and attempt to go about life as usual while their mother moves into a Vermont shelter to be near their father and help his cause. The complexity of this novel comes in the myriad other conflicts the two girls are dealing with in addition to their father’s imprisonment; in many ways, the novel reads like an exploration of different methods of coping, from the angry to the silent, from finding one’s voice to losing it. Much of the novel is devoted to exploring the tension between Nadira, an average, overweight, passive freshman, and eighteen-year-old Aisha, the seemingly perfect, overachieving valedictorian (“You’re on the road with your sister, and your father is in INS detention, and your ma is sleeping on a shelter cot, and you figure maybe the two of you have a lot to talk about. We don’t”). It is, in fact, Aisha’s own self-destruction that motivates Nadira to be more proactive, and this surge of activity unearths the information necessary to help get her father out of jail. Budhos has composed a compelling and thought-provoking contemporary examination of the human side of the law; further, in illustrating the secret burden that Nadira and Aisha carry with them to school each day as they pretend that nothing is the matter, she reminds readers to think differently about the people around them. Sure to elicit discussion, this novel would work very well for a teen book club selection. An endnote is included. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, 'Seo/Atheneum', 162p, $16.95. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2006)
Budhos's moving, quietly powerful novel explores the post-9/11 pressures on fourteen-year-old Nadira's Muslim family, Bangladeshi immigrants who have lived productively but illegally in New York for eight years. When they seek asylum in Canada and her father is detained at the border, Nadira realizes it is up to her to prove his innocence and hold her family together. Category: Older Fiction. 2006, Atheneum/Seo, 162pp, 16.95. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Jenny Ingram (VOYA, February 2006 (Vol. 28, No. 6))
Fourteen-year-old Nadira, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, sits in the back seat of the car as her father drives her eighteen-year-old sister, Aisha, and her mother to the Canadian border to seek asylum. Having arrived in the United States pre-September 11 on tourist visas, they are now in gross violation of immigration laws and risk deportation. When Nadira's father is detained indefinitely, Nadira and Aisha return alone to New York to stay with relatives and continue with school. This book highlights the plights of illegal immigrants and makes a strong case for their contributions to America, while identifying discrimination in a post-September 11 society. Aisha is valedictorian of her school and has a bright future if her paperwork can be rectified. Nadira is able to bridge the Bangladeshi and American cultures and is the one who sees that her father's name is cleared. Budhos does a good job of writing about South Asian culture and its contrasts with mainstream American culture. A cornucopia of characters represents every stage of immigration and assimilation, from the newly arrived to the first generation. The plot is suspenseful enough to keep the reader interested while maintaining a high level of educational value. Teachers will find this novel very useful in the classroom. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2006, Simon & Schuster, 176p., $16.95. Ages 11 to 15.

Kristen Moreland, Teen Reviewer (VOYA, February 2006 (Vol. 28, No. 6))
Budhos's descriptive writing style helps the story seem more realistic. Nadira's conflicting emotions are portrayed in such a way that even though teens might not identify with her situation, they can easily relate to her feelings. The topics addressed in this book are very relevant in today's society, and teens will quickly be able to make real world connections. Although not all teens would choose to read this book on their own, it could be effectively used in the classroom. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2006, Simon & Schuster, 176p., $16.95. Ages 11 to 15.