ANew York Times Book ReviewEditor's Choice * An NPR Best Book of the Year * A Padma Lakshmi Book Club Pick
For fans ofOn Earth We're Briefly GorgeousandA Tree Grows in Brooklyn, an unforgettable story about female friendship and queer love in a Muslim-American community
Stunningly beautiful. The New York Times Book Review
An unforgettable voice that moves you from the start. People Magazine
Razia Mirza grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friend, Saima, by her side. When a family rift drives the girls apart, Razias heart is broken. She finds solace in Taslima, a new girl in her close-knit Pakistani-American community. They embark on a series of small rebellions: listening to scandalous music, wearing miniskirts, and cutting school to explore the city.
When Razia is accepted to Stuyvesant, a prestigious high school in Manhattan, the gulf between the person she is and the daughter her parents want her to be, widens. At Stuyvesant, Razia meets Angela and is attracted to her in a way that blossoms into a new understanding. When their relationship is discovered by an Aunty in the community, Razia must choose between her family and her own future.
Punctuated by both joy and loss, full of 80s music and beloved novels,Roses, in the Mouth of a Lionis a new classic: a fiercely compassionate coming-of-age story of a girl struggling to reconcile her heritage and faith with her desire to be true to herself.
Bushra Rehmangrew up in Corona, Queens. She is co-editor of
Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Todays Feminism, and author of the novel
Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, the poetry collection
Mariannas Beauty Salon,and the dark comedy
Corona,one of the New York Public Librarys favorite books about NYC
.ANew York Times Book ReviewEditors Choice
![Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/8/8/2/2_6938484.jpg "Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion: A Novel [Paperback]")