While others are never allowed to leave.
The exotic are a short drive up the road
Postcodes vending an experience of elsewhere
But without the frequent flyer points and itinerary
They are just ghettos.
When you feel like a dandelion
Just a wish from being blown away
When you feel like a spice
Just a sprinkle of flavour to your taste
When you feel like a souvenir
In a bazaar of identity that peddles fear
You feel
That you must carve yourself out of resistance
But then some people showed me:
That anger is good
But with action it is better.
That remembering is good
But with hope it is better.
That change is good
But with discovery it is better.
That questioning is good
But with trust it is better.
That resisting is good
But sometimes those you resist do not matter.
And that standing up is good
But standing up alongside others is better.
Thunderous applause, like a storm has erupted, the sound of rain crashing down onto the top of a tin roof. It washes over me like a midday rainstorm. It’s pure and beautiful and I’ve never felt so alive.
I search the audience for Paula and Michael. They’re grinning, clapping wildly.
Michael’s eyes meet mine.
He thinks he’s learnt from me. He’s wrong. It’s me who’s learnt from him.
He’s taught me to never give up on anybody.
Acknowledgements
Thank you Mobinah Ahmed, Asme and May Fahmi, Annarose, and Zayied and Sara Saleh for Facebook-status-inspired hilarities, geekiness and anecdotes. Like the Eye of Sauron, I am watching (and yes sometimes using) you all. And I think you love it.
Thank you to the Bankstown Poetry Slam for inspiring parts of Paula and Mina’s journey.
Thank you to Mariam Veiszadeh for clarifying Afghan words and customs for me. Any errors are my own.
Thank you to Zeinab and Sumaia El-Kadomi for the music. What a difference it made.
Thank you to Peter Gould for advice on general tech and gaming geekiness and for almost getting me hooked on AR blogs.
Thank you to the amazing people who bring such expertise, depth, integrity and truth to the process of turning my drafts into the final book you are reading: my agent, Sheila Drummond. My team at Pan Macmillan: Claire Craig, Danielle Walker, Tracey Cheetham and Cate Paterson. My editor Julia Stiles. I am so blessed to work with you all.
Last but not least, thank you to my family for your constant support and encouragement, without which nothing would be possible.
About Randa Abdel-Fattah
Randa is an award-winning author, former lawyer, regular media commentator and doctoral candidate researching Islamophobia in Australia. Randa is currently working on the film adaptation of her first novel, Does My Head Look Big in This? and is keen to use her intervention into popular culture to reshape dominant narratives around racism and multiculturalism. She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
Also by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Does My Head Look Big in This?
Ten Things I Hate About Me
Where the Streets Had a Name
Noah’s Law
No Sex in the City
First published 2016 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © Randa Abdel-Fattah 2016
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available
from the National Library of Australia
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
EPUB format: 9781925480207
Typeset by Post Pre-press Group
Cover design: Elissa Webb
This is a work of fiction. Characters, institutions and organisations mentioned in this novel
are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously without any intent to describe actual conduct.
Love talking about books?
Find Pan Macmillan Australia online to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events.
Randa Abdel-Fattah, When Michael Met Mina
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends