All My Rage

In the ink-­black morning, all I see of Abu s eyes are his glasses. The taillights of traffic going into school reflect off the thick square lenses. He s had them so long that they re hipster now. A Mojave Desert howler shakes the car ­one of those three-­day winds that rampage through your skin and colonize your ventricles. I hunch deep in my fleece, breath clouding.

I will be there, Abu says. Don t worry. Okay, Sal?

My nickname on his lips is all wrong. It s like by saying it, he s trying to make me feel like he s a friend, instead of a mess masquerading as my father.

If Ama were here, she would clear her throat and enunciate Sa-­lah-­ud-­din, the precise pronunciation a gentle reminder that she named me for the famous Muslim general, and I better not forget it.

You said you d go to the last appointment, too, I tell Abu.

Dr. Rothman called last night to remind me, Abu says. You don t have to come, if you have the ­the writing club, or soccer.

Soccer season s over. And I quit the newspaper last semester. I ll be at the appointment. Ama s not taking care of herself and someone needs to tell Dr. Rothman ­preferably in a coherent sentence. I watch the words hit him, sharp little stones.

Abu guides the car to the curb in front of Juniper High. A bleached-­blond head buried in a parka materializes from the shadows of C-­hall. Ashlee. She saunters past the flagpole, through the crowds of students, and toward the Civic. The pale stretch of her legs is courageous for the twenty-­degree weather.

Also distracting.

Ashlee is close enough to the car that I can see her purple nail polish. Abu hasn t spotted her. He and Ama never said I can t have a girlfriend. But in the same way that giraffes are born knowing how to run, I was born with the innate understanding that having a girlfriend while still living with my parents is verboten.

Abu digs his fingers into his eyes. Hi

unforgettable narrators." Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End

All My Rage is an expert study in all that's tangled within the closest of our relationships the pain and the love, the ugliness and the beauty, the potential to break and the potential to repair. Painful, powerful, hopeful, and magnificently crafted. Randy Ribay, author of Patron Saints of Nothing

"Tahir packs an absolutely unforgettable punch in her first contemporary YA. . . .This is the kind of book that positively climbs into your bones and steals your breath in the very best way." Buzzfeed Books

  Tahir s lyrical prose unpacks both the beautiful and the brutal. She deftly captures the layers of grief, rage, family, examination of faith, and forgiveness, while managing to inject levity into dire situations and provide a semblance of hope . . . Put this book at the top of your list. SLJ, starred review

  Tahir brilliantly shows how interconnected societal forces shape communities and people s lives through the accumulated impact of circumstances beyond their control. A deeply moving, intergenerational story. An unforgettable emotional journey.   Kirkus Reviews, starred review 

An unyieldingly earnest generational story for contemporary audiences, Rage is a knife-sharp narrative with an obliterating impact that will leave readers thinking of it long after turning the last page. Booklist, starred review

"A gift every step of the way." Bookpage, starred review

"Heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful, this memorable novel leaves the characters with what they deserve most: a future." BCCB, starred review

"This standalone novel feels timely and important and should be on every library shelf for teens. School Library Connection, starred review

[A] powerful, viscerally told novel. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This unforgettable multigenerational contemporary YA novel delivers pain, heartache and anger  but also love, hope and redemption." Shelf Awareness (starred review)

Some of the best contemporary fiction out there is YA, and All My Rage is one of the strongest new examples. This moving and at times devastating book follows best friends Noor and Salahudin as Sal tries to save his family s motel and Noor tries to strike out on her own.
Marie Claire

This powerful novel tackles everything from systemic racism to the fragile bonds of friendship.
PopSugar

The first-person prose vibrates with adolescent intensity of grief, desire, and above all searing rage as Tahir s young heroes are faced with grown-up choices they feel ill-equipped to make. But equipped they are: with poetry, music, tradition, and their capacity to love. Entertainment Weekly