January 1, 2024 by Little Bee Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Poupeh has arrived in Los Angeles to stay with her aunt, uncle, and cousin Afrooz while her parents finish their business in Tehran, Iran, before joining her. When the group goes to the airport to pick the parents up, they find that they have been sent to Amsterdam after being denied access to the US because of the 2017 Muslim travel ban. Poupeh is sad, and going to a new school and being bullied because of her name doesn't help. Trevor calls her "Poopy Baby", and makes fun of the fact that Penelope befriends her, calling her "Pee". Poupeh reacts to all of the stress in her life by not eating and saying very little. Her aunt knows enough to take her to the school counselor, Mrs. Clawson, who had helped Afrooz. Adding to Poupeh's stress is the fact that she is going to have to talk to an immigration official about why she needs her parents to come to the US, so that they can get a "golden ticket" visa. This is about the only way they will be able to make it into the US. Poupeh's teacher assigns a project on another country, and pairs Poupeh with Penelope and Trevor to research Iran. The trio plan to have a fashion show with some of the aunt's clothing, and serve some traditional Persian dishes. Trevor doesn't like this idea, and worries that his father will get upset, as he doesn't believe that Iranians should be in the US. Oddly, however, Trevor has a crush on Afrooz. Poupeh's father pressures her again and again to do well on the interview, and the project progresses with difficulty, although Penelope's mother is friendly to Poupeh's aunt. Eventually, with Mrs. Clawson's help, Poupeh is able to start standing up for herself, and is able to overcome her selective mutism long enough to do the immigration interview. Her parents are granted a visa, and finally make it to the US.
Strengths: It's good to see a wide variety of backgrounds in graphic novels, and I can't say I have seen one with Iranian characters before. This is based on a combination of the author's experiences as a child, and the experience of some of her patients in 2017, so there are a lot of good details about what it is like to come to the US. Afrooz is a great character who is unhappy to be sharing her room with her younger cousin, but who does manage to be nicer once she understands how difficult the changes are for Poupeh. Penelope and her mother are also kind. The issue of having one's name mispronounced is well handled. This is a more modern and easier to read book about Iranian immigrants than Dumas' 2016 It Ain't So Awful, Falafel.
Weaknesses: Even though the letters were in all capitals, the i's and j's were dotted, which was visually distracting. Almost all of the adult male characters in the book were unpleasant, and weren't really brought to task for their behavior. Trevor's father is the worst, but Poupeh's uncle and father weren't great, either.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed graphic novels about the immigrant experience like Yu's Lost and Found, Tsong's Fake Chinese Sounds, or MacLeod's Continental Drifter.
Weaknesses: Even though the letters were in all capitals, the i's and j's were dotted, which was visually distracting. Almost all of the adult male characters in the book were unpleasant, and weren't really brought to task for their behavior. Trevor's father is the worst, but Poupeh's uncle and father weren't great, either.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed graphic novels about the immigrant experience like Yu's Lost and Found, Tsong's Fake Chinese Sounds, or MacLeod's Continental Drifter.
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