June 20, 2022
Twelve-year-old Pakistani Muslim Mona Hasan, who lives in Dubai, has big resolutions for 1991—such as not rolling her eyes behind her parents’ back, and saving someone from danger—all of which she chronicles in her diary. “Nothing exciting ever happens in the UAE, but there is bad news happening all around us,” Mona writes in a January entry and, by February, Americans have invaded and dropped bombs in Iraq, before subsequently departing. Believing that the first Gulf War is over (“except for a few chips and cracks, everything’s back to normal”), Mona busies herself with pining for her crush, Waleed (a February entry features only his name, written 74 times), and trying to navigate puberty, until she overhears her parents discussing leaving the U.A.E. to avoid a shifting regime. Drawing on her own lived history, Hussain, who grew up in Dubai and emigrated to Canada as a teenager, touches on weighty topics such as racism, misogyny, and war. Mona’s voice is good-humored, and her diary entries—comprising lists, poems, and letters from supporting characters—amalgamate into a wise and introspective debut. Ages 10–14. Agent: Amy Tompkins, Transatlantic Literary.