BETWEEN TWO MOONS

A Muslim family living in Brooklyn works to reconnect through the month of Ramadan.

Amira and her twin sister, Lina, are graduating from high school in Bay Ridge at the same time their older brother, Sami, is returning home after six years in prison. Reunited for the first time as young adults, the siblings struggle to relate even as they all have secrets. Lina is partying too much with a new boyfriend who promises to help her become a model, while “good sister” Amira, who plans to go to college, is trying to take care of Lina while venturing into dating. Meanwhile, Sami keeps sneaking away from the house, their parents are trying to figure out how best to support their increasingly distant children, and the neighborhood's Muslim community is dealing with the arrest of a Libyan cafe owner, a violent attack on an imam, and the degrading vandalism of the mosque. Gawad’s excellent debut novel illuminates one family’s story through the holy month of fasting against the backdrop of NYPD surveillance of a Muslim neighborhood and larger fears of detainment and deportation. Amira narrates most of the book with an engaging voice, while the perspective sometimes changes to a close third-person to peer into experiences of the detained cafe owner, the imam who was attacked, Lina, Sami, and others. These small inserts help to weave a complex portrayal of the whole community into Amira’s and Lina's stories as their lives are on the precipice of change, caught between devotion and rebellion, culminating in startling consequences for all.

A vibrant achievement.