A Very Large Expanse Of Sea
I knew when I finished reading this that I wanted to write a blog post on it. I needed to take a moment to gather my thoughts and the shooting in New Zealand happened. I am still in such shock and heart break over these instances that keep happening! To read a book as beautiful and powerful and important as this and then to realize that ignorant people are still in charge just makes for very sad times.
Angie Thomas is an amazing author with her books The Hate You Give and On The Come Up, and everyone talks about how important her books are to the reader community. I whole heartedly agree with that notion and am a supporter of Black Lives Matter but then we have to give Tahereh Mafi and other writers of people of color credit for their importance too. Because Muslim life matters as do Hispanics like me, and even the white people who come out on the news who are saying they are against the blacks or muslims or any race, I know that not all white people feel that way and there are groups of bad people no matter what religion or skin type they are.
So with that rant over with, I will move onto my thoughts on this book. Here is the goodreads summary:
It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments—even the physical violence—she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she’s built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.
Shirin was a character who I felt was so different from who I am as a person. She was not a character I connected with because of anything we had in common, she was a character I connected with because she was someone I admired and wished were real.
I adored the fact that she hung out so much with her older brother. As an only child, I have no idea what having a sibling to fight with or protect is like. I adored the fact that she wanted to be a B girl, break dancer. I don't recall ever reading a book about a break dancing character let alone a female one. I read a lot of ballet books but this was completely refreshing.
Ocean was another character I was so intrigued with. He seemed like a very true person and it made me wish that I had a friend as awesome as he was. How he was able to stay true to himself after his friends and coach and even his mother made it very difficult for him.
Shirin and Ocean are strong characters who wove together full of flaws but it didn't take away anything from that. They couldn't be flawless but it made them stronger and more lovable.
This book is so so important to me and it should be important to all readers out there but especially young readers. We need to keep drilling into everyone that tolerance is important. An entire race is not evil. An entire religion is not evil. People are evil by the choices they make.
Thank you to the authors in this world that defend their people. Angie Thomas, Tahereh Mafi, Sabaa Tahir, Nic Stone, and all the other kick ass authors out there. I am a young Hispanic woman and I stand by you. I am proud to have friends of different races and religions, gay, bisexual, asexual, and more. I stand up and say I am here for you and I support you.
Thank you to these unique people who have educated me and have made me a better person.
