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SIX TRUTHS AND A LIE by Ream Shukairy

SIX TRUTHS AND A LIE

by Ream Shukairy

Pub Date: March 12th, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564595
Publisher: Little, Brown

Muslim high school students in Los Angeles are accused of a terrorist attack on the Fourth of July.

When a fatal explosion causes tremendous damage at Monarch Beach, six Muslim teenagers become suspects. The story unfolds in chapters that alternate between the viewpoints of Nasreen Choudhry, who attends a private Catholic school where she’s the only Pakistani American in her classes; Palestinian Arab American Qays Sharif, a soccer player with a 4.4 GPA and a Stanford scholarship; Lebanese and Syrian American social media influencer Samia Al-Samra; Zamzam Thompson, who’s Black and an aspiring doctor; Afghan immigrant Muzhda Ahmad, whose family has a secret; and Sudani American Abdullahi Talib, an EMT in training. Each of them have something to hide from their families as well as complicated family relationships and expectations. Two white investigators, federal agent Kandi Favreau and Detective Micky Pennella, seem determined to use the teens’ Muslim identities and ethnicities to frame them. In her sophomore novel, Shukairy writes leads who have different goals, ambitions, and dreams. She clearly captures each of the characters’ confusion and fear as they are arrested. Facing pressure from family members and lawyers, the young people must decide whether they want to fight for their collective freedom and innocence or frame one another. Tensions run high as the trial proceeds, and readers will be surprised by a twist toward the end. This story of post-9/11 America clearly depicts how lives can change overnight when those in power control the narrative.

A powerful and timely read.

(Fiction. 13-18)