5/9/2023 0 Comments Roses in the mouth of the lionBack at school in the sixth grade, a group of mean girls descends upon Razia and her friend Taslima, shouting, “Pajama People!” While acutely aware of how her Muslim faith differentiates her, Razia finds comfort and beauty in her heritage, connecting her “like a kite string” to everyone she loves. When treated with disdain by employees at the collection center, Razia realizes why they were told to stay away from it. In the summer, of ’85, Razia and her friend Saima secretly collect cans to scrounge up money, defying their parents. The scenes brim with the pluck and tumult of young friendship while also portraying the uneasy racial balance that the first-generation children navigate in 1980s Queens. As children, Razia and her friends bounce between houses under the watchful eyes of Pakistani aunties and loll about in backyards overgrown with roses, sunflowers, and grapevines, as well as weeds, old sofas, and rusty cars. Rehman beautifully conjures in her stellar debut a Queens, N.Y., Pakistani American community and a girl’s coming to terms with her identity.
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