If You Could Be Mine
A Novel
273 pages · Released Aug 20, 2013 · Algonquin Books
Content report card
If You Could Be Mine parent’s guide: what’s inside
Substance use
What it offers
A note for parents
This Lambda Literary Award-winning novel centers on two Iranian teenage girls navigating a secret same-sex relationship in a country where homosexuality is criminalized. While the story handles mature themes with sensitivity, it addresses real danger, identity struggle, and difficult choices that require emotional maturity to process. The book is widely taught in high school curricula and is celebrated for its honest portrayal of LGBTQ+ identity and cultural context, making it appropriate for mid-to-older teens but not younger readers.
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From the publisher
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children’s/Young Adult One of Rolling Stone’s 40 Best YA Novels A 2014 ALA Rainbow List Top 10 Title A Booklist Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2013 A Chicago Public Library “Best of the Best” 2013 In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain... Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Children’s/Young Adult One of Rolling Stone’s 40 Best YA Novels A 2014 ALA Rainbow List Top 10 Title A Booklist Top 10 First Novels for Youth 2013 A Chicago Public Library “Best of the Best” 2013 In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture. Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light. So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they had before, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly. Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants in the body she wants to be loved in without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- Love
- Lesbians
- Best friends
- Juvenile fiction
- Friendship
- Fiction
- Children's fiction
- Love, fiction
- Friendship, fiction
- Iran, fiction
- LGBTQ young adult
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ISBN 9781616203702 · Algonquin Books