–Middle School/High School–
Nadira has always been the quiet, introspective sister living in the shadows–both in the shadow of her brilliant older sister Aisha, and in the shadow of United States law. Nadira’s family are illegal aliens from Bangladesh. When her father decides the only way they can achieve legal status so that Aisha go to college is to seek asylum in Canada, everything changes. In the post-9/11 hysteria, Nadira’s father is held indefinitely at the border because his name is similar to that of a suspected terrorist. Aisha, who has adapted to America with chameleon-like ease begins to crumble under the weight of all of the lies she’s had to tell over the years. In the end it falls to Nadira to take drastic action.
