The Sky at Our Feet

Hashimi (One Half from the East) addresses the plight of undocumented immigrants while taking readers on a glorious, madcap race through Manhattan. Twelve-year-old Jason Riazi, the novel's guileless narrator, has just learned that although he is an American citizen, his mother is not, having overstayed her student visa. When he sees her being taken away by two official-looking men, he assumes that she is being sent back to Afghanistan, and he boards a train from New Jersey to Penn Station, hoping to use a partial street address to locate his Auntie Seema. A concussion lands him in the hospital, where he meets the delightfully smart-mouthed Max, a self-proclaimed genius who is hooked up to a slew of wires. Both strangers to New York City, they escape the hospital together and are soon navigating the subways, the annual marathon, and the Central Park Zoo while being pursued by frantic adults. A winsome supporting cast, snappy dialogue, and nonstop adventures just shy of fantastic make this a thought-provoking, heartwarming page-turner. Ages 8-12. Agent: Sarah Heller, Helen Heller Agency. (Mar.)

Gr 5-8--Twelve-year-old Jason D. Riazi is on the run from his New Jersey home after his mother, an undocumented Afghani immigrant, is apprehended by police. Hoping to find his Auntie Seema in New York City, he takes the train to Penn Station, but, fainting from hunger on the platform and suffering a concussion, he lands in the hospital where he fakes amnesia to keep his identity secret. Befriended by a young female patient, Max, who claims her superior brain is being studied, the two escape into the city streets only to be caught up in the throng of the New York Marathon. When Max collapses in an epileptic seizure, Jason must continue alone on his quest for safety. The familiar trope of two adolescents escaping from a hospital to pursue an adventure is enhanced by the timely theme of American identity amid the immigrant experience and is nicely textured with details of the New York cityscape. The narrative is peppered with riddles Jason has learned from his mother, and his questioning of his "Americanness" and Max's rebellion against her parents' overprotectiveness will resonate with readers. The story is fast-paced and engaging with sympathetic protagonists who raise thought-provoking contemporary issues. VERDICT An absorbing read and a good choice for discussion.--Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY