Taking Cover: One Girl's Story of Growing Up During the Iranian Revolution - Hardcover

An international citizen from a young age, NIOUCHA HOMAYOONFAR was born in Brussels to an Iranian father and French mother, spent her earliest years in Pittsburgh, and became a teenager in Tehran. Homayoonfar grew up caught between two worlds: a free and Western life lived indoors, and a repressive life lived outside the confines of the family home. The family finally left Iran when Nioucha was nearly 17 years old. In the U.S., she studied art history and Spanish at the University of Pittsburgh. She now lives in the Washington, D.C., area with her husband, author and journalist Stew Magnuson, and their two children.

Foreword writer FIROOZEH DUMAS is an Iranian writer and the author of the New York Times best-selling book Funny in Farsi. She was a finalist for the PEN/USA award in 2004 and a finalist in 2005 for an Audie Award for best audio book. Dumas was also the first Middle Eastern woman to become a finalist for the prestigious Thurber Prize for American Humor. In 2008 she published Laughing Without an Accent, also a New York Times best seller. And in 2016, she published her first book of middle grade fiction, It Ain't So Awful, Falafel. She speaks at hundreds of schools, conferences, and festivals.

Gr 6 Up-When, in 1976, Nioucha's family moved from Pittsburgh to Iran, her father's homeland, they were returning to a modern, forward-thinking country. In 1979, however, the Iranian Revolution sent the nation into an ever-tightening spiral of religious policies and punishments, establishing an atmosphere of surveillance and fear. Nioucha thought that she already had enough to adjust to. As the daughter of a French mother and Iranian father, she was trying to acclimate to a new culture and language and longing ultimately, to belong. This memoir reveals what life was like for a young girl caught between cultures during those increasingly restrictive early years of the revolution. The author also paints a vivid picture of preadolescent and adolescent self as she navigated friendships and family relationships and privately enjoyed pop culture and a secret boyfriend. Nioucha's struggles will resonate with readers, especially those who feel caught between their public faces or family-pleasing selves and their inner rebellions. Each chapter is illuminated with evocative Persian patterns, accompanied by a quotation from a Persian poet or proverb. The foreword by acclaimed Iranian-born author Firoozeh Dumas situates the narrative poignantly within the context of modern Iranian history. A map of Iran and the surrounding area and a time line of Iranian history provide additional educational content. VERDICT A moving, accessible, and informative addition to all middle grade and young adult nonfiction collections.-Melissa Williams, Berwick Academy, MEα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.