A Good Country

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''Powerful, poignant, excellent'' - Independent

''Important'' - Guardian

''Stunning'' - New York Times

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The powerful, moving story of a California teenager from an immigrant family who, finding himself in an increasingly hostile world, is turned from a carefree surfer''s life towards a culture of fear and fanaticism

Fourteen-year-old Alireza Courdee contains multitudes. He is a straight-A student and an affable stoner; the high-achieving son of Iranian immigrants, and a Californian surf kid; Alireza, and just plain Rez. But when a terror incident shocks the nation – and then another, and another – Rez finds that the world has only one idea about the type of person he is; that his name and the colour of his skin make him an object of suspicion.

But there are new friends to shine a light into Rez''s isolated, angry existence – Arash, a fellow Muslim student, and the beautiful Fatima. Little by little, Rez is drawn into a new circle, a circle as troubling as it is consoling – and which has a grim and glorious mission in mind for him.

Insightful, nuanced and timely, A Good Country is an unforgettable coming-of-age story which deftly captures a young man''s alienation and search for identity in a flawed and violent world.

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