An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi
Published by HarperCollins on June 1, 2021
ISBN: 0062972413
Pages: 256
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

Written with excellent prose and character development, this book is a definite winner.  Mafi offers readers the opportunity to view what life was like for a teenage Muslim American girl following 9/11.

Shadi experienced societal stress and discrimination as well as surviving overwhelming family drama and sorrow.   Her story is told mostly in 2003 but it shifts over a year as she slowly loses her connections with family and friends.  Readers are led to an approaching emotional breakdown that is beyond understandable.  And yet, the protagonist has a strong sense of self and walks herself back to her family.  Teens will cheer for a romance which is integral to the storyline but it takes a back seat to the family interaction.

Purchase this book for all high school media centers and public libraries which collect YA fiction.  An Emotion of Great Delight would make an excellent choice for mother/daughter book groups.

Recommend for Cream of the Crop

Submitted by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian in Scarborough, ME