Name: Driving by Starlight
ISBN: 9781250133427

Anat Deracine

In this debut YA friendship story set in Saudi Arabia, two girls navigate typical teen issues—crushes, college, family expectations, future hopes, and dreams. Sixteen-year-olds Leena and Mishie are best friends. They delight in small rebellions against the Saudi cultural police—secret Western clothing, forbidden music, flirtations. But Leena wants college, independence—she wants a different life. Though her story is specific to her world (a world where it's illegal for women to drive, where a ten-year-old boy is the natural choice as guardian of a fatherless woman), ultimately it's a story about friendship, family, and freedom that transcends cultural differences. - GODWIN BOOKS -

Driving by Starlight

Allie Herrington

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

A fascinating first person story about the life of a teenage girl in Saudi Arabia.
Librarian: Yes, I'll recommend It for purchase. In the school library community we talk a lot about the importance of providing students with books that allow them to spend time inside the thoughts and experiences of someone from another culture, To that end we see lots of books about minority communities and about people living in countries in Europe or Asia. However, outside of a handful of memoirs, the Middle East is rarely represented. This book hopefully signals a change to all that. It provides a beautiful, and heartfelt look at the lives of teenage girls growing up In Saudi Arabia. Absolutely worth picking up.
Reader: Set in Saudi Arabia in 2011 (right after the Arab spring) Driving by Starlight explores what it is to be a teenage girl growing up in a world where every action is a crime. The world is terrible. And yet it's beautiful at the same time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a look into a world that most of us can (thankfully) only imagine.

Driving by Starlight

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