Book cover of American Fever

Book description

'A subversive debut' GUARDIAN

'Prose that dances with charge and potency' LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

WINNER OF A 2023 ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE

On a year-long exchange programme, sixteen-year-old Hira must swap the bustle of urban Pakistan for church and volleyball practice in rural Oregon.

Stuck between two…

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Why read it?

1 author picked American Fever as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The protagonist is a Pakistani girl moving from the urban city of Rawalpindi to a rural city in the US, as part of a program that places students abroad for a year in high school.

There were so many instances when I completely understood Hira, the way she talked about the US, about growing up in Pakistan, about language. Her adjusting to life far from home is complicated by her illness, a disease the perception of which further makes us question our prejudices about a place and its people.

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On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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